Can't see the forest for the trees. Looking for some C&C

[Tight Knot]

Hi all,

Here are a few versions of the same image.
I would love to hear which you prefer, and why.

Thanks all.

 

[pgriz]

You again!

Ok, getting slightly serious, I prefer #2 because the bench is the brightest object in the image, and my eye lands there first, then "gets up" to explore the path behind, and then look at the trees. In #3, the foilare is as bright as the bench, and my eye tends to go to them first, and then to the bench.

 

[astroNikon]

# 2 - same reasons as above plus I like the grass contrast the best of the four.

 

[annamaria]

Definitely number 2

 

[dxqcanada]

Any of the monochrome shots are better than the full colour ... though I will have to say that the scene is not very great.
In my opinion, the bench and the empty space between the trees are the only things in the shot that should be shown.

 

[Tight Knot]

You again!

Ok, getting slightly serious, I prefer #2 because the bench is the brightest object in the image, and my eye lands there first, then "gets up" to explore the path behind, and then look at the trees. In #3, the foilare is as bright as the bench, and my eye tends to go to them first, and then to the bench.

Hi Paul,
Just like a bad penny, I keep on popping up .

You put into words exactly what I felt, but couldn't put my finger on. Thank You!!!

 

[Tight Knot]

# 2 - same reasons as above plus I like the grass contrast the best of the four.

Thanks Astro, I agree also about the grass contrast.

 

[Tight Knot]

Any of the monochrome shots are better than the full colour ... though I will have to say that the scene is not very great.
In my opinion, the bench and the empty space between the trees are the only things in the shot that should be shown.

Hi Dennis,

Can you crop it the way you think it would work best? I would love to see your rendition.

 

[Derrel]

#2 or #3, either is good. I have no really strong reaction to either of those, no decided or automatic favoritism. Shown in this format, it's difficult to evaluate one against the other.

 

[Tight Knot]

#2 or #3, either is good. I have no really strong reaction to either of those, no decided or automatic favoritism. Shown in this format, it's difficult to evaluate one against the other.

Hi Derrel,

When you say that you have no really strong reaction, do you mean that neither of them are strong enough images? Would you even consider showing something like this in your portfolio? If so, what would you have done differently?

 

[astroNikon]

I would maybe crop it more. Make the bench more prominent but still to the left side.

 

[KenC]

I like the crop of the second image (at least I think that's the image it was from), although I probably wouldn't crop as much on top.

 

[fjrabon]

Here's what I thought. Black and white images were the best, IMHO. But I also thought that centering the "gap" with the bench to the left caused the image to be unbalanced, because there's nothing in the image to the right of the gap. I also thought the tighter crop worked better.

Wooden Bench next to trees with path through trees by franklinrabon, on Flickr

 

[astroNikon]

Here's what I thought. Black and white images were the
best, IMHO. But I also thought that centering the "gap" with the bench to the left caused the image to be unbalanced, because there's nothing in the image to the right of the gap. I also thought the tighter crop worked better.

Wooden Bench next to trees with path through trees by franklinrabon, on Flickr

That also got rid of the thin spindly things on the right (versus the tree trunks) that I didn't see until now.

 

[fjrabon]

Here's what I thought. Black and white images were the
best, IMHO. But I also thought that centering the "gap" with the bench to the left caused the image to be unbalanced, because there's nothing in the image to the right of the gap. I also thought the tighter crop worked better.

Wooden Bench next to trees with path through trees by franklinrabon, on Flickr

That also got rid of the thin spindly things on the right (versus the tree trunks) that I didn't see until now.

yeah, since the unbalanced nature of the original kept making me look for something on the right side to help resolve the image, I kept being drawn to those spindly underbrush things. Ie the composition served to push my eye to the worst part of the image.