Advise, which hawk pose better ?

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marklangner

marklangner

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I'm still new to Lightroom and just figured out how to have multiple versions post processed from the same shot to decide which I like best. To that end, I did a shot of a hawk landing on a post...then left it for a bit and thought would it be better without the barbed wire....well, I got rid of the wire, then decided hey get rid of the post. Not realizing until I was totally done that I wasn't working with the same image !!!! One is landing talons open looking down at the post, the other about to land looking forward talons closed. Add to that I think I did a way better post processing job on the second (talons closed) shot as I have better clarity, color, contrast, etc. So, while this is not the same image processed differently, my question still rises. The shot without the fence post and barbed wire (to me) is technically a better shot....but the shot with the fence post and barbed wire seems to tell more of a story. Clearly I can go back and rework the fence post shot if I wanted to....leave the post and remove the barbed wire...or leave post and barbed wire.... I don't normally post images here as this sorta thing can be so subjective, but I really can't decide which I like the best. Kinda looking for some feedback on this one. I've been working pretty hard on backgrounds, poses, camera angles attempting to up my game a bit. I'm trying to have my images tell a story and not continue to go for that "Audubon shot".
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis - Forum 1-R5B26547.jpg
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Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis - Forum 2-R5B26544.jpg
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Both very nice shots. I prefer the open talons, and given the open talons, personally I would leave the fence post, to me it's part of the story (I would take out the barbed wire thought). However, the first one looks a bit soft around the eyes. And I agree, the second one is processed better with more contrast and brightness.

Nice shots!
 
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Unfortunately I don't have a clear answer for you - but I can provide some of my thoughts - they are worth every penny you paid for them :cool:

  1. As you said, the second photo has better processing - something easily replicated
  2. Having the talons out is definitely more exciting (at least to me)
  3. Looking down is less engaging to me - I like the eyes of the second photo. Looking down definitely is less connection with the viewer
  4. The OoF stick or line or whatever in the second photo that intersects the tip of the tail bugs me - could be cloned out to be less distracting
  5. In the first photo, I would keep the post since it gives a reason for the hawk to be looking down. Otherwise, it's looking down and the viewer doesn't know why and as mentioned in #3 above it is already less connected with the viewer. You could remove the barbed wire and not lose anything in the image (to my way of thinking at least).
So the big to factors to me are #2 and #3. Unfortunately they contradict each other so in my mind there is no clear winner. However I would tend to lean towards photo #2 - but I might be biased due to the more vibrant colors.
 
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I prefer the first for the reasons the others have mentioned, I too would clone out the wire. You could try a lightening brush on the shadowed area beneath the wings and the face plus a bit more lightening on the eye to brighten it up a bit more.

To me the second is over-sharpened and too contrasty and the leaves in the background are too busy. You might try toning down the second, especially the background and blurring the background more. If those work, you'd have two really nice and quite different photos of that red-shoulder.
 
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