Birds on a dead tree

[lovelife65]

Taken with and without the wing spread of the one bird.
Not sure if it's interesting or now. It still needs a bit of work I believe.

Thanks for peeking.

20200811-DSCF5451-5 by sharonkay finley, on Flickr

[Urbanflyer]

Consider whether or not the trunk and ground actually add to the focus of the photo. Sometimes hard to do such a severe crop but worth considering.

[escape]

I asked my wife what she thought of this photo. She said it was beautiful. I told her the tree was dead and she said that may be so but the birds like it. Just thought I would pass it along.

[Wavelength]

I like this fill the frame tree image very much; The power lines seen at the bottom right corner can slightly affect the mood of image in a negative way.

[Geoff F]

If you want an image of birds sitting somewhere, crop out the lower half of the tree. If you want an image of the tree, set in a little bit on landscape to put everything in context, plus some birds as extras, then leave the image as it is now, including the fence. Both options will work OK.

[Stagecoach]

It works for me Sharon.

Perhaps a tiny bit more space on the right side may have helped, but there's always the option of cloning a bit of twig off

[skitterbug]

Hi Sharon - this image is interesting to me because those are vultures sitting in a dead tree! The tree and the vultures (in our area, we call them buzzards) seem to work together nicely, in my view.

[escape]

This is an interesting shot. Vultures prefer to sit on dead trees because of their large wing spans. No leaves or branches to get tangled in.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Sharon,

If this were mine, I would crop the right hand side and consider a bit of electronic pruning (aka cloning) on the two lower branches that would then hit the side - and make it so they (just) do not.

My aim being to 'balance' the composition, with the trunk, almost on RH 'third' vs the stretched bird top right. The crop also removes the most visible fence post, minimising the impact of that feature.

Just a thought, hope it is helpful,
Dave

[lovelife65]

Thank you for all the helpful suggestions and critiques. Yes, it's a shame about the fence. I also did not frame it that well, thus cropping some of the branches may help as suggested. Love these Black Oak trees here in SO Oregon. Some really beautiful landscape out here, and it's also actually warm in the summer

[xpatUSA]

Yes, it's a shame about the fence.

Sharon, I hold a different view about stuff appearing in rural scenery. To me, fences, power poles, bob wahr, power lines, gas pipeline warnings, telephone equipment covers and other artefacts are part of the scene - not be cloned out. If the recommended fence removal is an attempt to revert the scene to nature then I object. In my view, said fence is well overpowered by the main subjects and does not draw my eye at all ....

I agree about the tree branches going a bit far to the right, so I cropped some off and changed the sky color while I was at it:

[lovelife65]

Sharon, I hold a different view about stuff appearing in rural scenery. To me, fences, power poles, bob wahr, power lines, gas pipeline warnings, telephone equipment covers and other artefacts are part of the scene - not be cloned out. If the recommended fence removal is an attempt to revert the scene to nature then I object. In my view, said fence is well overpowered by the main subjects and does not draw my eye at all ....

I agree about the tree branches going a bit far to the right, so I cropped some off and changed the sky color while I was at it:

I love the edit! And honestly, you are spot on. Fences, old beat up cars, junk, goats, cows, etc. are part of a rural scene. I had a version similar in colors to yours, but was afraid it was pushed too far, but seeing what you have done makes me realize it wasn't, and I should not have left it so flat.
Thank you for taking the time to improve upon the photograph and give your thoughts!