Need some help with selecting an image for a competition

[tirediron]

I think you're right about the crop; it looked better in my mind than it did when I tried it. Let's just pretend I never said that part, mmmkay?

Okay, BUT…John's thinking here is good. With a little more symmetry, this would be not just a "good" shot, but an outstanding one.

Please forgive my really quick, hack-job edit, but I don't have much time, and only want to give the idea. What if instead of cropping, you do a little cloning to take out some of the wall on the left hand side and make it more similar to the right side? Like so:
View attachment 81486

Kinda depends on whether you want to go to that much work, AND on whether this particular competition allows that level of post-processing.

THIS!!!!!

 

[limr]

#4 and #7 are my favorites here.

I agree. I voted for #4, but #7 would be my second choice for sure.

 

[olly]

As for me , #2 and of course #4

 

[sashbar]

To me No 4 ( horses) really stands out, I would say it is a strong image with intent and an excellent background. It has a slight compositional problem, and sm4him was spot in correcting it.

No 7 is also good, a bit weaker than the horses, but it has an atmosphere that complements beautifully the message on the poster. Here you also go one step beyond "just a picture".

I would say every photographer working in these genres would be happy to have it in his/her portfiolio.

In my view these two are on a different level compared to the rest. The rest are just pictures of animals.

 

[Raj_55555]

I agree. I voted for #4, but #7 would be my second choice for sure.

Thanks Leonore, but where are the pictures of your meetup that we are so anxiously waiting for?

To me No 4 ( horses) really stands out, I would say it is a strong image with intent and an excellent background. It has a slight compositional problem, and sm4him was spot in correcting it.

No 7 is also good, a bit weaker than the horses, but it has an atmosphere that complements beautifully the message on the poster. Here you also go one step beyond "just a picture".

I would say every photographer working in these genres would be happy to have it in his/her portfiolio.

In my view these two are on a different level compared to the rest. The rest are just pictures of animals.

Thank you so much for the detailed reviews sashbar, it certainly makes sense. #4 has won almost unanimously. I think I will go with that one, except there has been a slight complication.

A question for everyone, yet again! I've decided to use only one animal shot based on sharon's advice and due to the nature of the competition.
If you had to choose between the horse shot (#4) and the Leopard shot (last one), which one would you have chosen?

I need a few opinion guys, have to finalize everything by tomorrow; and thank you all for taking the time to give me your valuable inputs

 

[Civchic]

Although I love the detail you've captured on the leopard, you have to go with the horses. It tells a beautiful story.

 

[Tight Knot]

Love The Majestic Kanchenjunga

 

[julianliu]

I like the "No wall can separate us", but lose the watermark.

 

[Raj_55555]

Although I love the detail you've captured on the leopard, you have to go with the horses. It tells a beautiful story.

Thanks Civ, I think most of the folks here agree with you.

Love The Majestic Kanchenjunga

Thanks TightKnot, been a while since I've last seen you

I like the "No wall can separate us", but lose the watermark.

Ooh boy! You brought up a very crucial point, I'll need to get rid of all these watermarks (I hate this one for the record) but I don't know if I still have the source file for the horse one. This sucks! Time to start digging...

 

[limr]

1) Definitely the horses. It has an emotion that is not present in the cat picture, and that will make it more memorable.

2) The pictures I took still have to be developed, so it'll be a few days. As for the ones maria took, she needs time to get back home and work some processing magic to make me presentable :mrgreen:

 

[vintagesnaps]

That's what I go by, to come back later and which was memorable? The two horses.

I would crop it a little - that white cloth/fabric in the upper left and the vertical line of darker background puts distractions in the picture that don't need to be there. Usually if I crop slightly on one side, I crop the bottom or top often the same amount, or maybe half, I try to keep a cropped photo in the same proportion as the original most of the time. With this one I'd crop the top a little too then to balance since there's enough space to work with. The horses aren't perfectly symmetrical anyway, and I don't think they need to be (you can see more of the horse's body on the right and part of a white wall below) I think it just needs to be a balanced composition.

And this isn't a choice since you're already including it - but that B&W panoramic landscape is stunning.

 

[Raj_55555]

1) Definitely the horses. It has an emotion that is not present in the cat picture, and that will make it more memorable.

2) The pictures I took still have to be developed, so it'll be a few days. As for the ones maria took, she needs time to get back home and work some processing magic to make me presentable :mrgreen:

Horses it is! it seems nobody likes a kitty
Still developing? Speed up Maria, we are all waiting!! :waiting: It seems you gals want all the fun for yourself!
And come on now, I've seen your pics before. You don't need any processing magic, you already have limr magic

 

[Raj_55555]

That's what I go by, to come back later and which was memorable? The two horses.

I would crop it a little - that white cloth/fabric in the upper left and the vertical line of darker background puts distractions in the picture that don't need to be there. Usually if I crop slightly on one side, I crop the bottom or top often the same amount, or maybe half, I try to keep a cropped photo in the same proportion as the original most of the time. With this one I'd crop the top a little too then to balance since there's enough space to work with. The horses aren't perfectly symmetrical anyway, and I don't think they need to be (you can see more of the horse's body on the right and part of a white wall below) I think it just needs to be a balanced composition.

And this isn't a choice since you're already including it - but that B&W panoramic landscape is stunning.

Thanks Sharon, I think I've finalized the horse one. Now I have to get to the processing bit. Also thanks for pointing out the cloth part, I never even noticed it! And thanks for the nice words, I think that landscape picture has got more attention over the years than all my pictures combined, it's just one of those images that you get once in your lifetime

 

[Light Guru]

Honistly the best way to choose your images for a competition is to find out who the judges are if possible. Some competitions list the names of judges.

Last year I entered the state fair, I entered a landscape photo and when I went to go see what the winning photos were I noticed that every single one of the top winners was a photo with people in it. This told me that the judges preferred people photography over other types because there were some really good landscape and wildlife images.

So if the competition lists the names of judges then look them up. Chances are they are photographers themselves. When you look them up you can find out the types of images they make. These are most likely going to be the type of images that move them the most.

 

[FITBMX]

#4 and #7 for me!
But they are all really great, good job!!!