Heron Sentinel + Repost

The bird looks like he's waiting to peck the tickets on entry into the unknown

Steve,

I see what you mean about the image reminding you of a picture in a children's fairy tale, the vertical snag that the bird's bill crosses and the horizontal one above that crosses the vertical almost appear to be a gate or door of some kind into the dark marsh behind it.

I like the bird's small size in the image but I might consider cropping just a little off of the bottom. I like the green vine in the URC, it adds a splash of color that compliments the greens in the heron very nicely.

I like the habitat i this shot. The heron is posed nicely. I also like Mia's suggestion about a crop.

A gate keeper. Very fairy tale inspired. I agree with Mia's suggested crop. Love how well the heron stands out from the background.

Gate keeper indeed. Nice eye to capture this. Sharon

Thank you all. Interesting what this image communicates. You are pretty well unanimous in agreeing with Mia about cropping some off the bottom. So, I gave it a try. To maintain conventional aspect ratios I went from a 8.5 x 11 dimension to a 5x7 (=7.9 x11). That had the effect of decreasing the height by about 7%. Maybe it's too much. I'm not sure. Let me know and I can try again. How important is it to maintain a conventional aspect ratio? Myself, I'm concerned that decreasing the height without affecting the width lessens the effect of depth by making the image more panoramic. However, it does remove the horizontal tree branch at the bottom (which may or may not be a good idea!). So, I'm not sure about this one!

Steve

I most often post images that are in a 5 x 7 format, but I am not married to it and will go outside "conventional" formats to achieve the crop I desire.

I like the comp of the repost better, taking away some of the darkness at the bottom of the image feels like it has put more focus on the heron and the "gate" and I really like that.

I too like this image Steve. Just something special about it. If this were mine I would have to play around with some different comps to see what I like best, but what you have is nice as posted.

ah, what a neat shot, Steve. I really like how the green vegetation is placed relative to the bird and the darker rest of the frame. There is something about the shot that really sort of messes with my sense of scale (in a good way). This is really a compelling picture--I like it a lot. I do prefer the repost.

This bird, in this setting, reminds me of an animated "greeter" at the entrace to one of the Disneyland rides (haven't been there for many years though). I love the mood here Steve and the light is just right on the bird, perch complex and the greenery in UR.

Neat mood in this image, Steve.

This is a delightful image; compelling even. Full of mystery. A wonderful example of a habitat image. Complex, and a pleasure to view and examine.

I prefer the original composition to the cropped repost. I agree about the importance of the height and the way it helps create more depth in the overall image.

Concerning aspect ratio: I never bother with the arbitrary predefined 2x3, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 values. Instead I always crop the image as the subject requires, going completely by gut feel. If you are worried about framing an image and standard frame sizes all you need is to cut a mat to fit the image to the frame.

It's such great fun to see the different interpretations and preferences! Thank you all!