Originally Posted by
Mike Buckley
Two points...
I recently saw a presentation of a former National Geographic photographer who is also the guy who made the Day in the Life of photo books. He explained that photographers tend not to be very good editors of their own work. He used the example that when we photographers work the hardest at accomplishing a particular photo, it's natural that we think it's one of our best. However, another person such as an effective editor never takes into account how much time or effort was required; only the results are considered. So, if it became for whatever reason important for you to include the top of the tall trees on the left, any decisions that might eliminate that part of the image might understandably be difficult to accept.
When I'm making a decision such as whether to include the top of the trees on the left, I ask myself what is gained and what is compromised when deciding to include them. In this particular image, nothing is gained in my mind because it's not the height of the trees that seem to be particularly important information. Even if they are considered at least somewhat important, in the first version the reflection of the top is still displayed even if the source is eliminated and that conveys a sense of height. Including the large area of sky is a significant compromise for me because that area of the image provides no helpful information. In other words, in my view the compromise doesn't justify including the tree tops.