This is another from Bass Rock the other week. My dilemma here is whether to clone out the gannet at the bottom left or not...quickly cloned out in the version to follow. I don't like removing such major elements from a picture, but would be interesting to see which one people prefer.
Canon 1D3
300 f/4 L IS and 1.4 TC
ISO 320
1/1250 at f/6.3
Shot in RAW, exposure + 0.95 in Lightroom
USM 80%, 0.5, 0
This is the one with the gannet at bottom left cloned out - not a perfect job, more to see how it looks really.
Posted by John Robinson on July 23, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Adam
If you have made the decision to clone then Ii would go the whole hog !. Take out the left bird as you have, the one on the far right,and the bottom half of the one above. You can then re crop with the the main birds head just right of centre. Its a ghard one but the pic doesn't really balance as it is. Not got another shot ??
Cheers
john
Posted by Paul Hillion on July 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM
I say leave it in for sure, especially with the way the main Gannet is looking back over his shoulder, plus it makes for a more balanced image.
Great shot, like it alot.
Posted by Stephen Boyd on July 23, 2008 at 12:08 PM
I would leave it in as the bird is now looking at something that isn't there
Taking out the botttom bird is about as far as I would go. The main bird is not looking at the bird bottom left anway, it's looking to it's front whilst the bird in flight is behind it. Taking more out would be changing the picture too much but I agree with John that it doesn't really balance as it is. It's very difficult getting these birds in a good pose without another, or part of another, intruding on the image.
Robert
Thanks for your comments! I do have others in this sequence, but they all have some out of focus half a bird coming in at the bottom left (a number of them flew in). We weren't at that position long enough, which was also where I captured my previous gannet posting. I'll go with keeping the bird in - I had a feeling taking it out might make it unbalanced, but good to hear others saying that. It makes for less work!
Funny how our perceptions on what is ok to clone out vary between other subjects (like birds) and background (like leaves and stems)! As others have said this decision seems to be more about image balance than the rights or wrongs of removal.
Nice shot. I'm of the opinion that it's better with the bird cloned out, as it is a bit distracting in the original. However, it does seem a little unbalanced without it. You can't win!
Discussion
8 repliesCanon 1D3
300 f/4 L IS and 1.4 TC
ISO 320
1/1250 at f/6.3
Shot in RAW, exposure + 0.95 in Lightroom
USM 80%, 0.5, 0
If you have made the decision to clone then Ii would go the whole hog !. Take out the left bird as you have, the one on the far right,and the bottom half of the one above. You can then re crop with the the main birds head just right of centre. Its a ghard one but the pic doesn't really balance as it is. Not got another shot ??
Cheers
john
Great shot, like it alot.
Stephen
Robert
Nice shot. I'm of the opinion that it's better with the bird cloned out, as it is a bit distracting in the original. However, it does seem a little unbalanced without it. You can't win!
Cheers,
Dan.