Shadow Or Not? – Alternate Choice

A week ago I shared that while on the Wildlife Drive in Custer State Park, South Dakota I came upon a Say’s Phoebe and I snapped a couple pictures of the bird as it perched on a fence rail.  During post-processing back home I wasn’t sure if I should include the shadow of the tail or not.  Here are the two versions of the shot:

Thanks to all who responded.  By a 2:1 margin, the majority said they preferred the picture WITHOUT the tail’s shadow.  They said that they liked seeing the bird closeup (and would have like it more if I could have had the bird look back at me).  They didn’t think that including the long shadow did anything for the shot.

Then JamesD went beyond the either/or choice.  Recognizing I have a bias against Portrait orientation, he took a copy of the shot with the tail shadow and recropped it using a Portrait orientation.  What an eye opener! I went back to the original and did the same (his image was too small for publication) and here’s what it looked like:

The main criticism of the original picture that included the tail shadow is that it took away from the bird itself – it was too small for the frame.  This crop overcomes that and still includes the tail shadow.  A very good balance.

Thanks to JamesD for reminding me that Landscape orientation is not the only way to crop a shot and particularly in this case, the Portrait orientation makes for a better outcome.

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