New Years Eve Party

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Toni
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I may have murdered this shot but it's nothing to crow about. ;)

It's bleak. It's cold. The crows had gathered in a field that I passed on the way to Mr. Tesco this afternoon, and hoping for one of those magical photos with all the birds taking off around me, I parked up & went walking. They had other ideas, but I did manage to sneak up on these in a tree.

This isn't meant to be a carefully balanced record shot, rather one for the feeling.

New Year's Eve Party by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

C&C welcome.
 
Agree with James - nicely seen, and processing to suite the subject. One of those images that awards repeat looking. (Being a tight cropper, I'd crop the bottom off to lose the road,- but that's just me).
 
That's really quite sinister...................
A big gathering like that are probably rooks rather than crows, but in terms of this image it doesn't matter. It's all about the feel and it certainly captures that.
 
Agree with James - nicely seen, and processing to suite the subject. One of those images that awards repeat looking. (Being a tight cropper, I'd crop the bottom off to lose the road,- but that's just me).

Thank you John. I did juggle the cropping a bit, but felt that the road led the eye in a bit and also made the viewer feel more inside the image, giving additional depth. This is a substantial crop from a much larger image, and I took several while walking toward the tree because they were spooked & starting to leave - the next image in the set has far fewer birds present and they all flew off just after this.

That's really quite sinister...................
A big gathering like that are probably rooks rather than crows, but in terms of this image it doesn't matter. It's all about the feel and it certainly captures that.

Thanks Jan. There were hundreds in the adjacent field - I went there first, hoping to catch a flock in flight, but couldn't get anywhere near close enough to be effective. I don't know how to tell the difference between a crow & a rook, but perhaps it's about the size of the gathering?
 
I don't know how to tell the difference between a crow & a rook, but perhaps it's about the size of the gathering?

'A rook on its own is a crow, and a crow in a crowd is a rook.'
A bit of a generalisation as on Dartmoor, for example, where there are few trees, the rooks hang out in very small groups or on their own, but it works a lot of the time. They are quite different birds close up, but from a distance a black corvid is a black corvid.
Keep the road - it adds to the feel.
 
Uninteresting subject tried to make interesting with a filter applied over the whole image

So this is your idea of constructive criticism - Happy New Year.

OP had a shot in mind and made an effort to record it, so good effort, things don’t always work out how we plan, but we learn by trying
 
So this is your idea of constructive criticism - Happy New Year.

OP had a shot in mind and made an effort to record it, so good effort, things don’t always work out how we plan, but we learn by trying



very constructive ..
the subject is a normal tree bare as thousands no value added situ meteo situation of light particular nothing at all the post instead is reduced to a filter scattered on the entire frame .. if then for constructive I have to say I like ... I let it go. ..
 
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I think you need the road, but what really works is the line of grass stalks from the right leading to the tree, so the composition works well. A few more birds in the air with a good profile would have worked too, but you've got to take whats there.
I'm not a fan of the processing, but again, thats personal choice
 
Uninteresting subject tried to make interesting with a filter applied over the whole image

Thanks for commenting Sil, especially since I know you don't like my pictures. The image is intended to show a variety of things despite its relative simplicity: the bleakness of winter at new-years eve, a gathering (of birds) with new guests arriving for a 'party', the harsh grittiness of life outside at this time of year, the soft light of evening despite the cold. The processing isn't a filter, and was constructed to fit with a particular style that's used in another online group.

So this is your idea of constructive criticism - Happy New Year.

OP had a shot in mind and made an effort to record it, so good effort, things don’t always work out how we plan, but we learn by trying

Thanks David. I was happy with the way it turned out, although I'd have liked more birds in the air if that were possible.

I think you need the road, but what really works is the line of grass stalks from the right leading to the tree, so the composition works well. A few more birds in the air with a good profile would have worked too, but you've got to take whats there.
I'm not a fan of the processing, but again, thats personal choice

Thanks for that - out of interest, how would you have processed it differently?
 
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