An old jack-in-the-box Santa

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Been taking my camera with me more often now that I have a smaller one.
Snapped this one today. I found the lighting challenging but think it turned out pretty fair.
What do you think?

[Geoff F]

Yes, Alan, very tricky subject. The brighter areas on the left are still a bit distracting so I would try to selectively tone them down a fraction.

One of those circumstances where you have to decide about how to crop. This nicely shows the overall scene but there is probably another option on cropping tighter to concentrate more on the box. Maybe 4 x 5 ratio?

[AlwaysOnAuto]

So more along these lines Geoff?

[Geoff F]

Yes that is along the lines of what I was thinking.

Another option is to go slightly taller and narrower so as to completely remove that dish in the bottom left corner. But it does have holly leaves so you might prefer to leave it. There are several alternative crops which could be tried.

[FrankMi]

Looks like the table isn't level but it might just be the shooting angle.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

So here is one narrower and tilted so the table/lamp is more vertically correct.

[IzzieK]

You know...if you go to lytebox without touching the expanded version, you can move your image to the left or right or up and down and see how you wanted the image cropped off. When I did that, what appeals to me more is that the RHS should be better cropped without any section of the pillow showing; the top of the lampshade can look like an urn without the shade and can still have the candy bowl/platter on the LHS so all three objects are included in the shot. Lower the bright reflection at the bottom of the LHA side from the candy container and you're home and hosed. Just my thought...

[Geoff F]

Every crop seems to tell a different story; so there won't be a universal answer. Just go with the one which you prefer.