Very nice images! I have an alternate crop for you to consider, and I also brightened, boosted saturation and contrast on the water. This puts more emphasis on the geese and the fantastic colors on the right side of the image.
alternate crop
Here are some of my thoughts. Compare my image with how you cropped it. Notice how the reflection in the water is an integral part of my composition. You cropped half of the reflection out. You also put the horizon in the center which takes away from the composition and makes it look static. Go back and forth between them and see if my composition doesn't have a three dimensional depth which is lacking in your crop.
I'd say you described the differences between the two crops perfectly. It certainly is a trade-off of emphasizing some aspects versus others, which is why I would only say what I offered is "alternate", not "better".
My two points of additional consideration would be:
1) the horizon -- when I look at it non-technically, my eye sees the far bank of the river has the horizon, not the distant horizon which is obscured by the beautiful foliage of the trees on the right side. I think either crop is fine with regard to the perceived horizon.
2) I find the dead leaves in on the lower left bank to be, well, ugly, -- compared to the rest of the image. So having those cropped out makes an overall improvement to my eyes.
I'll look forward to your thoughts. I really enjoy hearing the ideas of others. Again, thank you for your input.
I learn from these conversations too, thanks for talking with me
Oh, one other trivial thing. The display on my Microsoft Surface Book has a 3:2 aspect ratio which is also the aspect ratio of my RX10M3. My image fits my display perfectly for a desktop image! ;-)
Okay dokay, here's an idea for a 3:2 crop. It's not the 3000x2000 you need for your surface book, so it won't look as sharp as the original you posted.
3:2 crop
I really love the shot, I suspect there are a lot of wonderful things you can do with it.
--
Jeff (aka jw10)
