getting the shotby
KMcCComment by JakeKurdsjuk: Critic Club Comment:
I really like this capture - it's a wonderful candid shot, though it makes me really wonder what it is she's going for with that shot. And while I really like the moment captured, I'm not as crazy about the processing. The crop seems like it's set too high. I'd much prefer at least as much room above the swan as below, and perhaps more - crop up and in from the bottom right until the gaps match and I think it works just fine. The rest of the processing is just heavy handed for me - and I get that this can be a style thing, it's just not mine. Noise reduction seems heavy handed and many of your textures, from the shirt to the skin and hair and bricks, are nonexistent - it's painterly smooth, and while that could be exactly what you were going for I'm not a fan. At ISO 500 I can't imagine there was
that much noise to begin with, so that you chose to apply it twice is very curious to me. The vignetting, in particular, is not only overdone but likely unnecessary for the shot, and the fact that it runs through the swan's head is a huge no-no in my book. The only purpose it serves, in my mind, is removing some of the potential distraction you have on the right - something the crop mentioned above would have solved. As I look at this, I'm thinking this would have played wonderfully as a more hi-keyed black and white.
Again, I'm happy to say that my complaints about the processing may be purely stylistic, so please take it with a grain of salt if all you find yourself saying is, "But that's what I was going for". However, the crop (too much room at the bottom) and the vignette across the swan's head are the two things that I would point to as the real issues with the otherwise wonderful capture, and I'd want to see them fixed even if nothing else was changed. It is truly well seen and something that appeals to this "bird nerd" who has witnessed his fair share of odd points of view taken by other photographers.
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