Crop?

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bajadreamer

bajadreamer

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This shot of a Black-cowled Oriole was taken in Costa Rica. I cropped it slightly from the R and bottom to remove some distracting elements. Would you crop more? How about the slightly OOF perch on the L? Otherwise very little processing; I did bring down the yellows on the legs and wing patch. Those areas are also the reason for the negative EC at the time the image was taken. I kept blowing out those areas of yellow.
Black-cowled-Oriole.jpg
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It depends on your final use of the image but personally I wouldn't crop it any more, it looks great as shown.

Really nice shot and great job on holding the highlights while keeping nice detail on a largely black bird. Very nice!
 
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Very pleasing to me - I like the crop as it is. I also like the OoF branch - since it is OoF, it tends to draw my eye towards the tack sharp eye of the bird.
 
I don't think the extra perch adds anything interesting. Maybe experiment with more of a 4:3 or 5:4 ratio cut out some of the perch from the left.
 
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It's a beautiful image to start out with, and I think it is well-composed as presented. I do, however, think that the perch competes for dominance in the image with the subject. It's just one opinion and certainly not a criticism of the image. Cropping from the right side of the frame is out of the question, so if the image was mine, I might play with taking a bit off the left and top sides of the frame, and maybe even a slight crop from the bottom as well. You'll lose the classic rule-of-thirds composition, but I think it may help give the subject a more commanding presence in the frame. Of course, that is assuming that you want it to. Whatever you decide to do, it's a lovely image.
 
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Beautiful shot, but I would crop further. There is too much empty space on the left side of the image that isn’t serving any purpose - it’s more than what is needed to balance the bird in the frame. I did a screen grab so I could show you how I would crop it while keeping the original aspect ratio. The only other thing I would with this crop is to clone out the little piece of lichen on the bottom right so that it is not touching the bottom of the frame (I would clone that out rather than move the image up because I don’t think the branch should be any higher in the frame). This crop makes the bird more prominent, and leaves plenty of breathing room around it (with a bit more to the left in the direction he is looking) without over-emphasizing the negative space. But to each their own - beautiful shot either way.

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The answer really depends on what story you're communicating with the image. If you are talking about where this beautiful creature lives, the habitat in which a photographer may find it or something about its survival, then I would leave the photo exactly as it is in the opening post. There is enough of the surrounding habitat for me to get an idea where this beauty lives.

If you're after a portrait to showcase field ID markings of the bird or a photo to show how beautiful he is then crop in more closely so that there is very little space around the bird.

Again, the answer does not lie in what I or anyone else here says, the answer lies in what you want to communicate with the image and if you like it or not.

Jeff
 
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I would not crop it further. The branch on the left is out of focus so not a distraction for the viewer. You could try slightly darkening the branch at the left, not so much as to be noticeable but enough that the bird becomes the center of attention.
 
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