# I need help!



## Bend The Light (Sep 19, 2011)

Well, here we are. I have a competition coming up with the topic "Natural history" and it is a colour print competition. I THOUGHT I had my two entries decided, and then I went and shot some more images. Now I am in trouble, because I just can't decide what to do...

Basically, I need 2 images that show either animals or plants in their natural environment, not influenced by man. I will put my "shortlist" here, and will accept all critique and, if you'd be kind enough, your reasons for choosing a particular image over another. I KNOW I should be the one to choose, but I like ALL of them for one reason or another and I am tied!




Barn Owl 1 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr




Mallard Shaking Down by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr




Mallard Coming in to Land by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr




Southern Hawker Dragonfly 5 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr




Emerald Damselfly by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr


----------



## The_Traveler (Sep 19, 2011)

#1 is by far the best, imo. Besides the excellent shot of the bif, there is the humor of the sign involved. 
totally good

neither of the ducks is at all extraordinary.

Of the two bugpics, I prefer the first because he/she is large, dreadfully sharp and smiling at the camera.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 19, 2011)

The_Traveler said:


> #1 is by far the best, imo. Besides the excellent shot of the bif, there is the humor of the sign involved.
> totally good
> 
> neither of the ducks is at all extraordinary.
> ...



Thank you. Certainly the owl is a frontrunner. The dragonfly does have a "face" doesn't he? 

Cheers


----------



## Overread (Sep 19, 2011)

Owl shot for certain - you don't even need to question that one! 
In fact I'd be tempted to say, of this set, just enter the owl and nothing else. It's standing a clear cut above the other photos; which whilst good are lacking somewhat in their presented content (the ducks are good, but high angle and not amazingly new; the insects are good, but whilst the first has some charm the latter, whilst a solid shot, isn't really artistically interesting as such.


----------



## Tomasko (Sep 19, 2011)

I agree that #1 is The one, but I'm not sure if it fits the requirement "natural environment, not influenced by man"..


----------



## Overread (Sep 19, 2011)

Hmm I took the "not influenced by man" part to mean that the animal was not human controlled/owned/influenced (ie wild) however now you mention it the signpost could go either way (some can say its evidence of human activities and on the other hand it is part of that owls natural environment (since in many areas/countries its darn near impossible to find untouched land


----------



## Tomasko (Sep 19, 2011)

In that case any animal/plant photo will do  There's an obvious joke including human-made signpost, which in my opinion clearly negates all talk about "natural environment".


----------



## Bitter Jeweler (Sep 19, 2011)

Definitely #1

.I would find out about the rules though. Our photo club is strict about the "hand of man" rule. And that sign wouldn't fly (oh, that's funny!) in competition.

As far as the others, I dunno. I've seen sooooo many ducks and dragons...


----------



## Overread (Sep 19, 2011)

I think if 1 is too close to the rules for comfort just save it for another comp; its certainly got the potential for prize winning or at least nomination in other categories


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

Overread said:


> Owl shot for certain - you don't even need to question that one!
> In fact I'd be tempted to say, of this set, just enter the owl and nothing else. It's standing a clear cut above the other photos; which whilst good are lacking somewhat in their presented content (the ducks are good, but high angle and not amazingly new; the insects are good, but whilst the first has some charm the latter, whilst a solid shot, isn't really artistically interesting as such.



Thank you. There's nothing to lose by submitting two, so I may as well. And if the second gets a decent enough score then it adds in to my yearly scores which can be used for other awards at the end of the year (e.g. Club photographer of the year, best 3, etc.)

Thanks for you input.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

Tomasko said:


> I agree that #1 is The one, but I'm not sure if it fits the requirement "natural environment, not influenced by man"..



Which is precicely my sticking point. I don't think the signpost is influencing the bird, and also it is quiote a "natural" sight in the countryside, however, not eveyone sees it like that. That's the main reason why i am torn between pictures. 
Cheers


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

Overread said:


> Hmm I took the "not influenced by man" part to mean that the animal was not human controlled/owned/influenced (ie wild) however now you mention it the signpost could go either way (some can say its evidence of human activities and on the other hand it is part of that owls natural environment (since in many areas/countries its darn near impossible to find untouched land



Yes...pretty difficult to get every trace of man out of the image if it were a swallow, for example, which we virtually only ever see on wires. Likewise, I only ever see sparrowhawks on my fence in the garden. Is that natural, not influenced by man. It really makes it difficult to choose!

Cheers


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

Tomasko said:


> In that case any animal/plant photo will do  There's an obvious joke including human-made signpost, which in my opinion clearly negates all talk about "natural environment".



Yes, that's the other viewpoint. The owl is having a joke with us..."Why Walk?", he is saying (if we are anthropomorphising him.  )

I asked the same question elsewhere, and they said the ducks are fed bread (they probably are) so are they not wild anymore? See why it is so hard to choose? At least with the dragonflies they don't give a monkeys...no influencing them!


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> Definitely #1
> 
> .I would find out about the rules though. Our photo club is strict about the "hand of man" rule. And that sign wouldn't fly (oh, that's funny!) in competition.
> 
> As far as the others, I dunno. I've seen sooooo many ducks and dragons...



Added to this soup of choices is the information that I am the competition secretary. Our internal cometitions are jusdged by the members. If  say a picture is admissible, then it's in (providing it is a borderline case - if it's clearly not suitable (e.g. mono in a colour print competition) then I can make it fit. But then i don't want to do that for myself and fall flat on my face when it comes to the votes.

My club members will be quite impressed with close ups of dragonflies...they don't see that many. I am counting on the "Bird on a stick" brigade seeing something a little less formulaic. 

Thanks for your input.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

Overread said:


> I think if 1 is too close to the rules for comfort just save it for another comp; its certainly got the potential for prize winning or at least nomination in other categories



Yeah, that's an option...I am just eager to get it in...impatience, see?


----------



## pen (Sep 20, 2011)

1&2 or 1&4. Great shots.

Sent from my iPhone using PhotoForum


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 20, 2011)

pen said:


> 1&2 or 1&4. Great shots.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PhotoForum



Thanks. I think number 1 is in.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 22, 2011)

Any thoughts on a cropped and slightly cloned version?




Barn Owl no sign crop by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr


----------



## Overread (Sep 22, 2011)

I would probably have some ethical issues with presenting the photo with such a significant change from the original for a competition who's main premiss isn't that of digital editing. 

Honestly I know you want to use it and it is a good shot; but its honestly better in the original version with the sign post


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 22, 2011)

Overread said:


> I would probably have some ethical issues with presenting the photo with such a significant change from the original for a competition who's main premiss isn't that of digital editing.
> 
> Honestly I know you want to use it and it is a good shot; but its honestly better in the original version with the sign post



yeah, I think you're right. I am about 80% to scrapping this one for this competition. I will keep it behind and it may come in an Open topic competition next year.

Cheers


----------



## Derrel (Sep 22, 2011)

#1 __if___ the "hand of man" is allowed...many nature magazines with old-school ethics would not allow the man-made sign...but the visual joke, the "footpath", and the owl so clearly, wantonly disregarding the footpath signage...it's a wry joke,and I love the shot.

#2 of the mallard on the surface...it's a bit cliche, sure, but the water's surface is lovely, and the subject is seen large.

The damselfly is nice, but the background looks streaky, as if fake blurring had been applied, or the camera was moving in an electronic flash shot with almost equal ambient + flash balance....I dunno....background looks, well, weirdish.

Dragonfly....okay, but the right hand side seems like the wing disappears there....just not "solid", shot-wise.

The extreme crop of the owl....ehhhh...no, I don't think so.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 23, 2011)

Derrel said:


> #1 __if___ the "hand of man" is allowed...many nature magazines with old-school ethics would not allow the man-made sign...but the visual joke, the "footpath", and the owl so clearly, wantonly disregarding the footpath signage...it's a wry joke,and I love the shot.
> 
> #2 of the mallard on the surface...it's a bit cliche, sure, but the water's surface is lovely, and the subject is seen large.
> 
> ...



Thanks Derrel. I don't think the owl original will be entered...too many argumentative people at the club and when they mark it down i will get annoyed. 
I'm not so fond of the crop, either, so, I think I will be putting the owl away andbringing it out later in the year for a different competition. 

The Damsel was shot without flash, but was in strong sunlight. There was a decent breeze blowing the stams of the grasses all over, hence the blurred background...I have added nothing to this shot other than the usual levels/sharpening etc. But it is not as clear as the ducks, and some of the others.

Many thanks for your valued input.


----------



## ScubaDude (Sep 24, 2011)

#1 and #4. You can always photoshop out the "footpath" sign if it disqualifies the photo.


----------



## Bynx (Sep 24, 2011)

Cropping an image isnt digital editing by any stretch of the imagination. The removal of that sign is a great improvement on an otherwise good shot.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 24, 2011)

ScubaDude said:


> #1 and #4. You can always photoshop out the "footpath" sign if it disqualifies the photo.



I tried that but it left quite a significant area of green and things were unbalanced. The owl heading out of the picture without the sign didn't make as much sense.

As it is, events have contrived to eliminate the owl anyway. I went to print yesterday (my only opportunity before the comp) and forgot one of my hard drives. So, I had to look through other images. So, my entries are one of the ducks with wings spread, and a completely different image, an eagle, which still has the issue of not being strictly a wild bird, but doesn't have any means of identifying it as such. We'll see on Wednesday. 

Thanks for your input. I will let folks know how I got on after Wednesday Evening.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 24, 2011)

Bynx said:


> Cropping an image isnt digital editing by any stretch of the imagination. The removal of that sign is a great improvement on an otherwise good shot.



One of the few to think so. I think it looks ok, but the "message" is lost, the humour of the owl either obeying the sign and going that way, or the opposite with the bird flying rather than walking. But anyway, I will revisit the owl for other opportunities later on...there are other competitions. 

Thanks for your input.


----------



## photocoach (Sep 25, 2011)

#1 and the dragon fly image is my choice.  Wow!  Stunning images.  Really good with the crops.


----------



## Bend The Light (Sep 25, 2011)

photocoach said:


> #1 and the dragon fly image is my choice.  Wow!  Stunning images.  Really good with the crops.



Thanks. As it is the owl wasn't printed./ The dragonfly wasn't either, but it would have been had I remembered my hard drive when I went to get the prints done!

Cheers


----------



## jedensuscg (Oct 3, 2011)

Nice photos, how did the comp go?


----------



## Bend The Light (Oct 3, 2011)

jedensuscg said:


> Nice photos, how did the comp go?



Thanks. Sorry not been back here...my wife broke her leg on the day of the competition, and it's been my daughter's 6th birthday this weekend...been really busy!

The duck scored badly.

The Owl wasn't entered, instead I entered a Bald Eagle portrait shot. It scored 16.4 out of 20. It came in as 8th out of 27. It placed me as 3rd in the "newcomers" catagory, however, so that is a place.

Thanks for asking.


----------



## Bukitimah (Oct 3, 2011)

I hope my comment is not too late. I will go for no 1 but no cropping. If it is just the owl, then I will have chosen no 2. No 2 lack contrast as the subject sink in with the water.

Somehow, no 1 still lack something but I can't figure out what. The WOW effect is not throwing at you although it was a great photo.


----------



## Tomasko (Oct 3, 2011)

Bukitimah said:


> I hope my comment is not too late. I will go for no 1 but no cropping. If it is just the owl, then I will have chosen no 2. No 2 lack contrast as the subject sink in with the water.
> 
> Somehow, no 1 still lack something but I can't figure out what. The WOW effect is not throwing at you although it was a great photo.





			
				op said:
			
		

> Thanks. Sorry not been back here...my wife broke her leg on the day of the competition, and it's been my daughter's 6th birthday this weekend...been really busy!
> 
> The duck scored badly.
> 
> ...



So I'm afraid you're late Bukitimah


----------

