how do I crop this?

[Bol Ray]

I spent this sunday at Gate way of India and this is what I got.
can you guys Please critique these for me?

[Iguanasan]

Hey, Bol Ray... is there any possibility that you can edit your post and reduce it to just one or two images? It takes a fair bit of energy to properly provide critique (at least it does for me so maybe it's just my brain) and it's a lot easier to critique one or two images rather than five. I expect some people pop in and look but don't have the time or energy to comment on 5 images and so they just keep moving. I'll be happy to critique them all but I would just appreciate you sort of spreading them out.

If not, then I'll still critique them all but it'll likely be fast and maybe not the most thoughtful response.

[Mad Aussie]

Man ... that's a lot of pigeons!

[Marko]

Iggy makes a great point - very hard to critique 5 images at once.

But in general, the bird shots are better than the people shots imo.
When photographing a large group of animals there should be a clearer focal point imo. Shot 1 is sharp and somewhat interesting but it would be better if one bird was doing something a bit more special. shot 2 is better than shot 1 in this regard.

The people shots I'm afraid are a miss for me as they are basically just staring off into space or somewhere unknown. There is no interaction with the viewer and their gestures aren't that interesting imho. hope that helps somewhat - and it's just an opinion.

thx - marko

[Bol Ray]

Will do... down to 2 it is

[asnow]

I agree there seems to be missing a focal point. All the pigeons look very similar, however there is one white bird which kind of stands out. Wonder if it could maybe have been made the focal point.

[Iguanasan]

Will do... down to 2 it is

Thanks, Bol Ray. It just makes it easier. Sorry to be a pest.

I really like the first one. The sea of pigeons is interesting with the single white one nicely placed in the frame. The big problem is that it is "just a bunch of pigeons" standing around. Now if all of the regular ones were pointing one way and the white one was pointing the opposite way or something like that then I think it would stand out more. A narrow depth of focus may have helped the white one stand out a little more. From a technical standpoint it seems to be exposed well. There are a couple of bright areas, upper right corner, right above the white pigeon near the top of the frame. If you burned those in it would help too.

The second one has nice timing with the pigeon's wings up and back like that but I would have preferred for you to focus on him specifically. Because there's another pigeon doing the same thing and then that white one stuck in the same frame there's no clear subject to the image.

[Bol Ray]

Recently, I have been trying to add a narrative in my photos. with these I wanted to try and convey my feeling when I say this.

its 6:30 am at Gate way of india (opposite the site of terror attacks in Mumbai Taj Hotel) I say this group of people feeding these pidgins. There were a thousand to two thousand pidgins. ( in India there are alot of places kept aside to feed pidgins called kaburat khana ; a ritual from the days pf pidgin mail)

Gate way of India is an adhoc Kabutar Khana and this was the first time I say soo many pidgins up close. out of all the pidgins I saw, this was the only white one there.

Intent
I wanted to convey this sense of 1 in a thousand in the photos. May be if they were in B/W the white one might pop a bit more

PS Iguana San nothing Pesty in what you said. you are just trying to help me and much obliged for it. Thanks again!

[Iguanasan]

The same image with selective colouring may help that one guy stand out a little more. The second image would have been better to show the 1 in a thousand because you've included so many more pigeons. The only problem is those two with the outstretched wings which kind of stand out. You might want to try the selective colouring. Here's a blog post I wrote recently on how to do editing on the cheap which, coincidentally, highlighted how to do selective colouring. Photo Editing On The Cheap by Glenn Euloth | Photography podcast blog and forum - Photography.ca

[Bol Ray]

I tried some selective colouring. but I dont think its working. still here it is for your reference