Help me choose a photo for

[GrillMouster]

My biggest concern with your shot of the bighorn sheep is that the animal's most defining characteristic, the big horns, are mostly cropped out of the image.

 

[MontanaZoo]

My biggest concern with your shot of the bighorn sheep is that the animal's most defining characteristic, the big horns, are mostly cropped out of the image.

I have one that shows the horn more. Is that better?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliez_pics/2428172249/

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

My biggest concern with your shot of the bighorn sheep is that the animal's most defining characteristic, the big horns, are mostly cropped out of the image.

This was a concern of mine too which is why I voted for the Red Panda yesterday....and I see it's now tied with the Big Horn Sheep. The Big Horn looks a little too lopsided IMO in the new picture you posted.

 

[GrillMouster]

I do like this crop better. The viewer's eye starts at the sheep's eyes, a natural focal point, and from there follows the horn on the left, which becomes a design element, leading around the frame and back to the eyes. A pleasing composition that still leaves space for text overlay (T. Rowe Price).

 

[GrillMouster]

This was a concern of mine too which is why I voted for the Red Panda yesterday....

I, too, initially favored the red panda, because the others were too heavily cropped. That being said, I didn't think the panda was a strong image. For one, there's insufficient subject-background separation around the head. The bright highlight along the left edge of the tree is also distracting.

It's hard to tell from the small pics, but it looks like the images are lacking nice catchlights in the eyes. Additionally, it looks like the sharpest point on the sheep's face is the nose/mouth. The eyes are less sharp, falling in back part of DOF.

The OP asked for a selection, not critique, but I think maybe she should try again, at different times, wait patiently for the right light. The panda would look great with some dramatic rim lighting (and consider popping a flash, just to get a catch light in the eye, not to light the subject).

 

[MontanaZoo]

I, too, initially favored the red panda, because the others were too heavily cropped. That being said, I didn't think the panda was a strong image. For one, there's insufficient subject-background separation around the head. The bright highlight along the left edge of the tree is also distracting.

It's hard to tell from the small pics, but it looks like the images are lacking nice catchlights in the eyes. Additionally, it looks like the sharpest point on the sheep's face is the nose/mouth. The eyes are less sharp, falling in back part of DOF.

The OP asked for a selection, not critique, but I think maybe she should try again, at different times, wait patiently for the right light. The panda would look great with some dramatic rim lighting (and consider popping a flash, just to get a catch light in the eye, not to light the subject).

Thanks for the critique. I agree about the panda actually, I just don't have a lot of vertical photos of the animals, I tend to take horizontal (lanscape oriented) and it limits my selection. Not that it will keep me from entering the contest, just limits my possiblilities.

The animals are out from 10am to 5pm and this part of Montana tends to be blue sky super bright all the time, definitely limits lighting options for those time frames.

I don't use flash on the animals at all because I need to take repeated pictures of them and I don't want them to be afraid when they recognize me and the camera. I don't think it really hurts them but it definitely startles them. Had a bad incident with a monkey where I did use the flash, she hated me every time she saw me after that and would run and pound on the glass if she saw the camera.

You can click on the links on the bottom of the pictures to see full size (I messed up on the bighorn link), flickr requires that we link back to them if we link to their images (if anyone has ever wondered why I do that with all my pictures).

All the previous winners if you scroll up are pretty closely cropped, one of them is only the eye of a bongo. I think they like that cause the name of the magazine is connect and they want an eyeline connection/relationship feeling to the animal?

You are absolutely right about the focus and DOF on the bighorn.

Thanks for the contructive criticism, I always appreciate it. I have about two weeks before the contest deadline, I'll see what I can do. But otherwise, I'll definitely be putting one of these in the contest. Not so much for winning which would be nice, really the reason I do it is that it draws attention to our zoo.

 

[choirchic]

I picked red panda because of the potential for different colors and textures if you get in close or catch it in the right area.