CCC Forum

Oops, I had not realised there were three versions, so was mainly commenting on the first crop of the alternatives. In the original there is a light area at bottom right which is a distraction and the plane is not quite so well placed.

Didn't see your reply until now somehow! I disagree it's that much of a distraction and adds additional diagonals - surely more diagonals = better image?

Anyway, catching up. I have two days to sort out from last week (Thurs/Fri) so will reserve a couple of posts for them to keep things in order then post Sat/Sun now.

A (long overdue) upload from the photoshott with Ainura & Love in Hyde Park, day 115.


Ainura & Love - 115/365 by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

Didn't get home til 11:30 so this was a "what can I find around the house" shot.

SOOC, I liked the blue/gold tones and thought after my shot two days ago, Lucky was rather apt


Lucky 116/365 by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

I went for a photowalk in some nearby woods hoping to try my hand at shots of interesting mushrooms or fungi. Turns out spring is NOT the best month for that!

In the end though, just as I thought all hope was lost, I saw a bizarre looking rock and nudged it over with my foot. Thousands of ants then went into a frenzy trying to move their larvae out of harm's way and I went into a frenzy trying to photograph them! Hard to capture such small, fast moving critters but quite pleased with this shot - you can even see the baby ant growing in the central larvae sac!


Ant Rescue - 117/365 by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

Without much time for anything elaborate or for an interesting photowalk I resorted to an idea in my little black book.

Though these have been done before by others mostly they are fairly simple, dull affairs. I wanted to do something a bit more unusual. I considered pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis but didn't have enough alphabetti spaghetti


Something Quite Atrocious - 118/365 by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

davidc wrote:I disagree it's that much of a distraction and adds additional diagonals - surely more diagonals = better image?

Sorry, that diagonal in the bottom right is very distracting and detracts from the image as it takes the eye faway from the plane, which surely is where you want it to be? The fact that it is a diagonal does not make it good if it is not in the right position.

I don't agree it's that distracting to be honest. The difference in contrast is not THAT high, particularly compared to the plane section of the image and though I may tone it down slightly, cropping would impact the proportions of the rest of the image so I won't be removing it completely. The "highlight at the edge of the frame" and "crop crop crop!" mantra is too frequently applied in my opinion. Particularly with club judges

I definitely think the rest of the image is strong enough to completely attract attention and that even if the corner did cause the eye to shift back, I can't believe it's more of an eye-grabber than the main subject.

davidc wrote:I don't agree it's that distracting to be honest. The difference in contrast is not THAT high, particularly compared to the plane section of the image and though I may tone it down slightly, cropping would impact the proportions of the rest of the image so I won't be removing it completely. The "highlight at the edge of the frame" and "crop crop crop!" mantra is too frequently applied in my opinion. Particularly with club judges

I definitely think the rest of the image is strong enough to completely attract attention and that even if the corner did cause the eye to shift back, I can't believe it's more of an eye-grabber than the main subject.

We've been here before, haven't we? It's your picture, so you are the final arbiter. Whatever you might think of club judges, they have all been in this game for a long time and do know what they are talking about, even though it does not seem that way sometimes.

If you like the original crop, I would recommend toning that area down as it is way too bright particularly in the position it is in. You have a strong diagonal leading to the plane and then a bright area to make sure that the eye follows its natural inclination to go from top left to bottom right and keeps going past the main focal point. But as I said, it's your choice.

Heh, I find the strip lights on the left more of a distraction than the bottom right corner.

Though there's nothing to be lost by darkening it down, so would definitely do that if planning to enter a club competition, even if only to stop the judge being distracted by it.