Advise on composition and cropping

gsxr1

I have been out today. Shooting for the first time in nice sunshine. I got my camera in October so its really been dull till this glorious day.

I picked this pic from today to pose a question .

I belive this shot could be improved by cutting out some of the background or even the rear end of the swan.

I was wondering how some of the more experienced togs here would compose this photo better . I missed the tail by accident.

I know the photo is over exposed in parts, but I like the effect as it highlights the bright spring low sun.



here is my effort . Is it wrong?

Calina

Wrong is an interesting word to use there. So much of photography is subjective.

I would say I prefer the uncropped version because it gives more context and maybe a little more personality. But the question is, which do you prefer, and do you know why?

Hugh_C

yeah the swan's tail bothers me, I don't think the crop is helping too much, so I suppose I'd prefer the swan's tail (all of it) in

I think if you were to crop I'd turn it into a mid shot or almost close shot, and I'd consider a square image. That's just me though ...

You might find a few folks in here who'll slag you about taking pictures of swans - don't mind them

The overexposure is fine for me, you're not losing detail in the bird's feathers - quite often, the technically perfect exposure looks flat and dull, over-exposing by a bit is not great sin in my view.

H