Should I throw this photo away?

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Dinusaur

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I was in a local park recently where I saw a Cooper's Hawk attacking a Northern Harrier (first photo). Then the table turned and the Harrier attacked the Hawk, unfortunately it all happened in front of a busy background unlike the first photo. I have quite a few frames of this attack, some with better background; however, no other photos show this closeness of the harrier to the hawk. These two photos together tell a complete story. Does it make sense to keep the second photo (harrier attacking the hawk)
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Dinusaur said:
These two photos together tell a complete story. Does it make sense to keep the second photo (harrier attacking the hawk)
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Personally I think that second image is kind of cool in a surreal way and as you say tells a story. I doubt it will win any big awards but it's a cool moment you captured. If I shot that I'd probably keep it but I wouldn't expect it to be one of my best ever photos as much as a very cool moment in time and some great action that I witnessed.

Hard to say without trying but my first instinct was that a tighter crop that loses most of that blue sky on the left and leaves more of the bush as background behind the fighting birds might make a cool print. Yeah, probably not an all time great image but still it's kind of visually interesting to me at least.
 
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DRwyoming said:
Personally I think that second image is kind of cool in a surreal way and as you say tells a story. I doubt it will win any big awards but it's a cool moment you captured. If I shot that I'd probably keep it but I wouldn't expect it to be one of my best ever photos as much as a very cool moment in time and some great action that I witnessed.

Hard to say without trying but my first instinct was that a tighter crop that loses most of that blue sky on the left and leaves more of the bush as background behind the fighting birds might make a cool print. Yeah, probably not an all time great image but still it's kind of visually interesting to me at least.
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Thank you very much Dave for your thoughtful comments and suggestions. I did a tight cropping and increased the brightness and contrast a little.
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I'm glad that you captured that moment. The behavior is more interesting than catching a perfect bif or perched bird. Now, I agree with Dave, that this photo is not an award winner but is one that you share with others to show what interesting behavior you captured.

Now, with regard to the photo, the bright leaves compete with the birds. Just for sh@ts and giggles, can you desaturate and darken the background? Let's see what happens.
 
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I would keep them both…because they tell more of a story. However…and this might be considered heresy by some…I would try and separate the birds from the trees in the second one…do some subject selection in LR and then tone down the brightness, contrast and highlights in the background…while doing the opposite to the birds. And…I would give the lens blur tool a shot. It looks like there's not a whole lot of separation between the birds and trees so even a 2.8 lens would have failed on bokeh…and I wouldn't overdo it…but a touch of blur to the trees in combo with toning them down a bit to highlight the birds might work and still look not overly processed which would not be Good Eats as Alton Brown would say.
 
I agree with all of the above….. keep both. There’s a story here to share with friends, family and other photographers. A kept image that isn’t perfect is better than the one you deleted! Good camera work with a surprise “event” you weren’t prepared for and could not plan to shoot. 👍
 
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I'd say keep them both and any others in the sequence you shot that help tell the story. To me, wildlife photography isn't always about the perfect blurry background, the hero portrait shot, or the elephant silhouetted against a sunset sky. All those are great and we strive to capture those shots but the bread and butter for wildlife photography, at least to me, is capturing creatures exhibiting interesting behavior and/or going about their daily routine and struggle for survival. Your photos above capture that struggle and they sure are doing something interesting.
 
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Dinusaur said:
I was in a local park recently where I saw a Cooper's Hawk attacking a Northern Harrier (first photo). Then the table turned and the Harrier attacked the Hawk, unfortunately it all happened in front of a busy background unlike the first photo. I have quite a few frames of this attack, some with better background; however, no other photos show this closeness of the harrier to the hawk. These two photos together tell a complete story. Does it make sense to keep the second photo (harrier attacking the hawk)View attachment 74246? View attachment 74247
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In my opinion, the first one is an obvious keeper. Even though the tables are turned in the second photo, it's very hard to even make out the birds so probably not worth keeping. It just depends on how much you personally value it.
 
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Anjin San said:
I would keep them both…because they tell more of a story. However…and this might be considered heresy by some…I would try and separate the birds from the trees in the second one…do some subject selection in LR and then tone down the brightness, contrast and highlights in the background…while doing the opposite to the birds. And…I would give the lens blur tool a shot. It looks like there's not a whole lot of separation between the birds and trees so even a 2.8 lens would have failed on bokeh…and I wouldn't overdo it…but a touch of blur to the trees in combo with toning them down a bit to highlight the birds might work and still look not overly processed which would not be Good Eats as Alton Brown would say.
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The second shot is absolutely amazing!

Hard to tell from the jpeg, but it might be possible to separate the birds from the background as Anjin San suggests. Definitely worth trying.
 
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Dinusaur said:
I was in a local park recently where I saw a Cooper's Hawk attacking a Northern Harrier (first photo). Then the table turned and the Harrier attacked the Hawk, unfortunately it all happened in front of a busy background unlike the first photo. I have quite a few frames of this attack, some with better background; however, no other photos show this closeness of the harrier to the hawk. These two photos together tell a complete story. Does it make sense to keep the second photo (harrier attacking the hawk)View attachment 74246? View attachment 74247
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There two different photos, one a record shot of BIF, the other a full action shot, how you crop them or edit them is personal, but yes the second one i would make it a tighter crop and lighten it up just a little. -0.7 ev has kept the highlights safe for you.

Flip the image back and forth see if it has any effect, take a little more off the back of the bird on the right attacking just in front of the vertical tree trunk is good. Defiantly top an bottom.
Only a suggestion you need to play with it so you like it.

The first one crop a whisker and edit slightly with pro contrast in Nik, play with flipping,
it has a good angle and direction, it has a story, shows some environment, its one you would hang on the wall, the second one is a competition shot.

Only an opinion
 
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Dinusaur said:
I was in a local park recently where I saw a Cooper's Hawk attacking a Northern Harrier (first photo). Then the table turned and the Harrier attacked the Hawk, unfortunately it all happened in front of a busy background unlike the first photo. I have quite a few frames of this attack, some with better background; however, no other photos show this closeness of the harrier to the hawk. These two photos together tell a complete story. Does it make sense to keep the second photo (harrier attacking the hawk)View attachment 74246? View attachment 74247
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I hope this isn't too frank of an answer but the title of the post is ambiguous. If you find them interesting and like looking at them, they are fine photographs. Keep them. You didn't ask for technical criticism so I won't offer any, but if you are asking if they are well exposed and composed, hit the delete button twice and go back and shoot them again next chance you get. I do it all the time with misses. Keep releasing the shutter and enjoy!
 
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Bob Hullinger said:
I hope this isn't too frank of an answer but the title of the post is ambiguous. If you find them interesting and like looking at them, they are fine photographs. Keep them. You didn't ask for technical criticism so I won't offer any, but if you are asking if they are well exposed and composed, hit the delete button twice and go back and shoot them again next chance you get. I do it all the time with misses. Keep releasing the shutter and enjoy!
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I'd say the first isn't close to a delete anyways. Its light isn't perfect but not bad, same with its quality. And the behavior shown is great

Edit: meant the first image, not the second
 
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O said:
There two different photos, one a record shot of BIF, the other a full action shot, how you crop them or edit them is personal, but yes the second one i would make it a tighter crop and lighten it up just a little. -0.7 ev has kept the highlights safe for you.

Flip the image back and forth see if it has any effect, take a little more off the back of the bird on the right attacking just in front of the vertical tree trunk is good. Defiantly top an bottom.
Only a suggestion you need to play with it so you like it.

The first one crop a whisker and edit slightly with pro contrast in Nik, play with flipping,
it has a good angle and direction, it has a story, shows some environment, its one you would hang on the wall, the second one is a competition shot.

Only an opinion
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To the majority of public viewers seeing both these photos on display say in a exhibition would understand what they are looking at, they would see the action, pose, understand the message, connect with the story, see the WOW, that's 90% of the job done, and more than likely they wouldn't go into or care if the photos were technically correct, ie: sharp, focused, exposed etc.

I base this on watching the public reaction (sales awards) at many exhibitions i go to where entries are from beginners, enthusiasts and professionals.

I also see this a lot at markets where photographers have a stand, I see technical flaws instantly but i ignore that completely if the subject composition connects, is strong or evokes emotion, or has a WOW factor, in fact i even buy the odd piece simply because i like what i see.

The professional would see any faults immediately and pass unless the composition is compelling and super strong, the enthusiast would focus on the composition and subject and maybe judge the technical aspects to their best ability, the public would look at the WOW and decide if they like it or not, and wouldn't really look or care about the technical aspects as they mostly wouldn't have the skill sets or eye, they either like it or not.

In camera club competitions your two photos may get a little constructive criticism from a judge on the technical aspects, but that's how we learn, telling someone what they want to hear to be nice doesn't really help.

Only an opinion
 
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