• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Frame or Mounting Image (1 Viewer)

JTF

Well-known member
I am looking for some ideas on the best way to present the photo below for an upcoming public exhibit. This is the last image to do and would like to have one done in a nice frame/mat or another format. I normally don't do this only use my images digitally so any suggestions are most welcome. Of course there is not right or wrong way whatever is pleasing to my eye. It may be better to have the owl off centre slightly? Original image is 6000 x 4000 around 3.7mb out of a D7200. The largest size so far is an 8 x 10 image on core foam board and matted so having this one the largest may be the way to go. Thanks again and have a good week.
 

Attachments

  • 1600 x 1200.jpg
    1600 x 1200.jpg
    335.7 KB · Views: 166
I would definitely change the crop and put the owl to the left of the centre of the photograph. Depending on the quality of the photo I'd also be tempted to crop it much more tightly so that we get more detail on the owl (and less of the wire, but that's not something you could get rid of without doing extensive photoshop manipulations). I think this is a picture where the background doesn't really contribute anything - it's all about the bird, so we might as well see it with the most amount of detail we can.

Of course this is very personal - others may have completely different opinions!

Andrea
 
I agree completely with Andrea's comments. Crop using the rule of 1/3rds and placing the owl on the left side of the image. Nice capture, by the way.
 
Personally I'd crop a bit off the left making the tree areas pretty much the same.
I'd also crop a bit of the top.
I'd also darken the background a tad to make it pop, just a personal thing of course.
As to frame a thin white beveled mat.
 
I’d crop both sides to a near-square format, keeping the eyes—the focal point of the image—dead center. I’d also take a little off the top and, as suggested in the previous post, darken the background a moderate amount. “One-thirds” is a useful rule-of-thumb but isn’t appropriate in all cases.
 
Last edited:
i would try two things.
1. crop left to where the crossed stems are in the green and the bottom to a point where the second wire diagonal meets the edge at the post
2. crop vertically drastically on the right to where the lower wire finally goes off edge and to the left just on the owl side of where the fine upright stem in the green is, thus making a vertical image where the post is a good basis for the owl

it is a very fine image, good to see. it needs a finely bevelled matte of about one 7th or eigth of the image height and toned to a midtone of the grey post, a midtone of the buff grass or if you are good with colour a soft mauve complementary to the overall buff grass with a maroon bevel tuned to the eye yellow. no frame around that. please let us see whatever you finally choose.
 
Last edited:
I agree that it isn't always appropriate but this is an example of when, in my opinion, it would be a perfect fit.

Not a “perfect fit”, surely, with those big yellow eyes staring straight at the viewer? To my mind, the one-third rule is best applied in cases where the head is pointing at/angling toward one or other edge of the photo as if peering at something inside or outside the frame.

But tastes differ and there’s no real right or wrong here. . ..
 
Last edited:
Good advice for sure on cropping. The original is 6000 x 4000 around 3mb or size. Not sure how much cropping you can do to get a decent looking 8 x 10? 200 x 1500 etc. Thanks for the input and the crop you did looks clean and puts focus on owl for sure.
 
if you keep the resolution it will be fine.
why not print original then make a mask of the print size you want and move it around?
even go so far as print the original and the cropped for the exhibition and display together.
i have done this with original artwork and other artists do the same, a detail that stands alone.
i dont know what the final job is for you, limited edition prints or what but with an image of that quality it is worth the experimentation. the matte and frame also affect the final look, more experiments required or just print without either and allow purchasers frame their own way.

also, even the walls where exhibited may affect the final viewing, sometimes i used a larger background of flat board of neutral or black or white perhaps here 800x1000 size related to final print to isolate the work in the viewing frame of the observer.

good luck
 
Last edited:
Here ya go JT

I couldn't email it to you but here is the image:
 

Attachments

  • 1600 x 1200 copy.jpg
    1600 x 1200 copy.jpg
    589.6 KB · Views: 66
As I mentioned to JT, seeing as the Owl is staring straight ahead, if any cropping was to be done, I would evenly crop it on all sides. Please note, I did not work on this photo w/o JT's permission.
 
Beautiful photo. Just wanted to suggest leaving the wire in the image, it adds a bit of interest without distracting the eye.

However you crop it, it's going to be a corker!
 
I should have asked your permission to modify your version but I made the assumption that it was OK to modify a modification. I apologize for my mistake. I've removed the offending post.
 
Last edited:
KC, i think asking for commentry on cropping gives implicit permission to crop as long as no-one uses or publishes anywhere but this thread. how else can we see what we suggest and share it?

if i posted my artwork here asking for cropping suggestions i would be gratified if anyone took the time to produce an example for me

i also agree with Baz that the wire should stay but if i were to yse the vertical closer-in crop i think you have a good case for losing it
 
KC, i think asking for commentry on cropping gives implicit permission to crop as long as no-one uses or publishes anywhere but this thread. how else can we see what we suggest and share it?

if i posted my artwork here asking for cropping suggestions i would be gratified if anyone took the time to produce an example for me

i also agree with Baz that the wire should stay but if i were to yse the vertical closer-in crop i think you have a good case for losing it

That's me Jape. I never mess with someone's else's photography w/o their permission.
 
That's me Jape. I never mess with someone's else's photography w/o their permission.

thanks, i am an artist and published writer and would be annoyed too so would usually agree but as i said here i think it is tacit. ;)

if op wants, then mods may remove of course
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top