Crop struggle!

[nateMN]

Looking for some input on a 'creatively correct' crop on the following photo. I originally rotated to make the horizon level and tried to make to focal point (flower and bee) off center. Below is the as-is capture. Or am I too excited that I captured the bee mid-flight and the photo doesn't have much artistic potential regardless of crop?

iso 200 50mm f/3.5 1/2500 sec

 

[CSR Studio]

The bee is soft and the background is busy.

 

[Randall Ellis]

It's a nice bit of work capturing the bee in flight like that. The movement is certainly to the right, the way the bee is flying, so I would consider removing from the left side only. Bringing the crop in on the left and top should put more emphasis on the flower and the bee by removing more of the background, which as stated above, is rather busy.

Sadly, you are in a catch-22 situation here - if you had stopped down to get the bee in better focus you would have more of the background to contend with, and if you opened up to blur the background the depth of field would have been too shallow to make the bee sharp. The softness of the bee is regrettable, but honestly, I wouldn't beat myself up about it. It's still a great image...

I've no idea how to post my version in this thread, but I've done what I described above and it does increase the impact. Give it a shot and see what you think...

- Randy

EDIT: figured out how to post it...

 

[leighthal]

I think an angle would help. Not sure if it a good quality shot for a close crop though.

 

[nateMN]

Thanks for the replies. Agree with all of them (especially the catch 22). I think it's a bit of a lost cause, but was hoping that someone else might have seen some other potential that I was missing.