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[wbool63]

Hi, Yesterday , I went to our local Agricultural Show. It is a small and largely communal affair.
Profits go back into the community.  The schools play a very active role and vie for your dollar with  things made by the pupils and the parents' committees. There is horse riding competitions,  cattle and other farm animal judging. There are  baking, preserving, tapestry, art, photography and flower exhibitions.  Just about everyone gets a price. I took about 80 photos and selected three. I selected these because they tell a story. I have cropped, blurred sharpened and generally played around with them to show them to their best advantage. (at least to my thinking). I would welcome your feedback.
John






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[mramshaw]

I would welcome your feedback.

Well, you have had some good ideas. And 3 out of 80 is pretty good in my experience.

The first and last would - I think - have benefited from a lower viewpoint. For the chickens,
I think I might have tried to use the blown-out part upper right and tried to include the
chicken a little more. For the last one you have seen something and pretty much caught
it but I think you could have maybe made a more interesting picture? I would have tried
to get the cow's eye and maybe shoot up towards the girls?

The middle one works pretty well - you have got lots of interesting stuff. Also some extra
clutter. The creation bottom left is not bad, but the kid in black doesn't really add much and
seems to have something distracting on his t-shirt. So maybe a crop like:

[littletank]

I like 'Bored' and would suggest a crop something like the example below. Lighten up the 2 girls to show their faces and then, perhaps, do a little cloning to remove or darken the cow on the left.
What do you think?

[LuX]

I suggest following littletanks idea but including much more from the bottom and left. Cutting a part of the girl to the right with the cow away.

In 'Serious' I would cut the ceiling away and the boy in foreground, bottom middle part. Because the many lines crossing each other doesn't add anything important. The sunlight from the opening is a big problem, I think. I emphasised the feeling of outside by cutting away and allow the opening to dominate the scene. Also added some contrast.

The last picture has some colour mixes due to the table setting and the people/children in background. Try masking a gray layer. It might help toning down the writing. I agree that it take attention away from the foreground.

[Dan]

I couldn't resist this crop..   Precious...

Thanks..

[wbool63]

Thank You for your replies.
From your replies it really seems all about cropping. All of these had already been cropped quite heavily. I guess I have to be more brutal.
@mramshaw, I like your crop of the kids , a definite improvement, even though I am generally not in favour of  square crops.
As far as getting a different angle on the other shots, that is pretty well impossible in these crowded impromptu circumstances. I think that if I had come up close to the bored girls , they would no longer be bored and I would lose what I saw.
@littletank, I had already lightened the faces and shadows. I feared more lightening would make the larger picture insipid. It works well with the smaller picture.
@Lux I like your crops of bored and judging.,  I could have cloned out the writing. As is, I used a mask to gradually blur the background. I thought darkening and more blurring would stretch the perspectives. I will try your suggestion.
@Dan, that is a great crop.

[littletank]

I have been through this sort of dilemma many times back in the old days of film and enlargers, but excessive enlargement starts to show up other problems as does excessive cropping. The only answer I ever had to getting spontaneity in the shots was the use of a long focus lens.

[mramshaw]

From your replies it really seems all about cropping.

Not really, it's more of a 'super-zoom' thing. With these types of camera you have
to include quite a bit of what you don't want in order to get what you DO want.

All of these had already been cropped quite heavily. I guess I have to be more brutal.

It's more a question of deciding what's interesting in a picture and getting rid of
anything that isn't. I like Dan's crop better than mine (although I would really want
to crop out the white badge) and although the Third Place award is in beautiful focus,
the actual creation itself is kind of disturbing. So mine does have a certain line in
it, but Dan has better identified what's interesting in the picture.

As far as getting a different angle on the other shots, that is pretty well impossible in these crowded impromptu circumstances. I think that if I had come up close to the bored girls , they would no longer be bored and I would lose what I saw.

That's always possible. You've identified the washcloth and bucket as being
important (people only wash cows for shows, I think) so I would've gotten
your picture first. Then I would've moved closer and kneeled down so that
I got the bucket into good focus. Finally I would have quickly recomposed so
that the girls and cows were in the picture. This is all theoretical of course,
I don't take many pictures of people. Sorry if I have offended you but you
did ask for feedback.

[wbool63]

Sorry if I have offended you but you did ask for feedback.

mramshaw , I am not in the least bit offended. I welcome your frankness and your feedback. I merely pointed out that it is almost impossible to get up close and take candid shots. I know for a fact that if my children know that I am taking a photo of them they seem to magically change their stance, demeanour and facial expression. They then vehemently deny that they are "posing". 

[mramshaw]

I merely pointed out that it is almost impossible to get up close and take candid shots.

I know. That's why you have to do all the fiddly stuff on a decoy and recompose.

I take (as in when I am the subject of) very bad pictures. My cousins' wife has
figured out that if she wants a bad picture of me, all she has to do is wave a
camera at me and say smile. She took a nice one of me a while back - I was in
the middle of putting on my coat and thought she was taking a picture of one
of our friends who is better-looking. Candid shots must be just that - candid.