Lovely as it is, especially on Mother’s Day, yet with a bit of cropping it’s even better.
Shortening the foreground brings the focus to mama Mallard and chicks.
Reducing left and right borders brings the hen’s eye in line with the right vertical axis, so she seems to be looking at us.
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Bright sunlight, streaming through green and dun foliage – what’s the point?
Cropping reveals a Praying Mantis.
With small subjects like this, I’ve learned less zoom with the camera gives me more leeway when I crop. `
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In January 2020, I came upon a gathering of Bald Eagles. As I approached, my goal was to capture images so that I might estimate how many were present.
In the above photo, there are seven eagles of various ages together. The morning was misty gray, and to honor their space I remained at a distance, using the full 24X of my Panasonic LUMIX.
Cropping out the partial eagles on the left and right, makes the scene far more dramatic. Also, we can confirm there are two juveniles huddled together directly behind the adult eagle.
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As the sun was setting the other day, light reflecting on the grasses was lovely.
Straightening the photo helped get the shot in balance!
Cropping the foreground and sky, lets the pink tinged grass in front lead our eye into the scene and focus on the lavender hued grass in the center and distance.
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Jello and I were on an early morning walk when I took this shot. The way she was standing, and the gorgeous sunlight glistening on the dunes knocked me out.
The original photo needed major cropping to eliminate distractions.
The finished version places Jello in the center and brings our focus away from the sky into the golden dunes.
Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.
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Thank you Patti for a chance to be a teacher again! Just love the “rule of thirds”!
Lindy Low LeCoq 
Beautiful nature photos Lindy. Thanks for sharing your talent…
Wow. Great shots and crops, all. Amazing to see all those eagles at one time. Well done.
Thank you, John. At first I thought “it’s too grainy” by the softness of the light actually enhances the eagles in my eyes!
“Just love the “rule of thirds”!” And wonderfully demonstrated!
Thanks, Janice! Glad to see things are starting to thaw up north!!!
Great examples, Lindy. That praying mantis would have been lost without a crop, and Jello in that beach light – a hit.
Thanks, Leya!
Hi, Lindy. Those grasses are beautiful and so are the bald eagles. I’ve never seen so many in one place before. A great capture. Your crops really make the subject shine and have more dramatic impact.
This was interesting. Composition and cropping are such important aspects of art. As much as I enjoyed your exercise, I must disagree on the duck picture. I prefer the un-cropped version, with the long foreground of grasses that draw the eye directly to the ducks, and also giving the ducks more space to swim in, so to speak. It’s fun to try different ways of looking at a picture!