I took a series of photos of one of my neighbors cows. I ended up editing out two cows, but I'm not convinced of how strong it is. Any thoughts welcomed.
I took a series of photos of one of my neighbors cows. I ended up editing out two cows, but I'm not convinced of how strong it is. Any thoughts welcomed.
First off, good job on the edit/removal/cloning work... it took me a moment to find it pixel-peeping.. but looking at it on the screen here, normal media size, I'd never know there was another cow; or two.
Strength... that's a difficult one. Nature doesn't have to be as strong as other genres but balance and light are always important. I'm thinking how I may have taken this shot and I feel I may have ended up with the same photo. I like that the cow is separated from the fence line; so going with a lower angle would not have worked.
Perhaps warm up the temperature just a pinch, contrast down just a pinch, and perhaps add a pinch of atmosphere/fog; maybe move the cow from center over to the right by 25% of the frame?
Just my thoughts, nothing more. If anything, hope it sparks some ideas... good or bad.. heh..
Something like this?
Yup, nice, yeah the cow more to one side and walking into the scene def helps. Sometimes being centered works; like I have a great goat shot that's centered; but more often then not, the "off-centered" still works best.
The lower contrast gives the feeling of soft morning light hitting this field.
Absolutely in appreciation of Joe's edit.
though felt few elements distracting. so gave a quick pass edit to hold all attention to main focal element.
Ohh wow, removed the entire tree, I didn't think of that at all... Nice. :)
I agree with Joe about the composition, Chloe. The cow being so central makes the image both seem a bit static, and suggest she's walking out of the frame.
Something more like this:
Yes, this balances much better to my eye, Chloe. Perhaps I'd not have the cow's tail tip quite so close to the edge, and maybe position it a bit lower. This is VERY subjective, only my own view.
I don't believe that beyond a certain point, compositional rules are useful. The rule of thirds at least avoids the static central subject, but, for instance, many things "point" - people, animals and vehicles forward in the direction of motion or gaze, but e.g. an asymmetrical tree can "point" with its limbs. Commonly, it's best for them to "point" into the image (the cow here), but again, someone at the edge of a frame looking out can convey a sense of loneliness or exclusion. Ultimately, I think composition is a subjective intuitive exercise, which can be analysed later, but thinking about rules at the time of shooting certainly doesn't work for me.
Personally, I'd never fiddle with a composition like this if it isn't right in the first place. I'd use another image, or if none worked, leave them and learn from it. While I don't believe in a "machine gun" technique, I generally take multiple images of a subject, varying the composition, and trying to refine it while I'm there. Often, it takes a while to "get into the zone" and my initial compositions are rarely the best.
It strikes me that these cows provide a good subject for pracitising composition, especially as they move around, to try to nail good compositions on the fly. Practice makes all the difference. Cartier-Bresson said "My first 10,000 images were my worst".