I like it. There is no cropping required. The space to the left of the swans is appropriate. The background is dark, so there is no distraction to lead your attention away from the obects of attention. Nice shot.
The entire point of this site is critique, suggestion, and opinion – none of which you will always agree with. Past praise is no reason to act defensively when given an honest, good intentioned appraisal.
That being said, I think that it would work better if the image were flipped. People in the western world are use to seeing the right as space for anticipated movement.
That is my opinion. It does not require argument. Opinions here are often different but not usually flat out wrong.
I like the compsition of this image. I think the space to the left makes the shot, it gives balance to the image and does not distract from the swans.
I am not sure on the premise that "People in the western world are use to seeing the right as space for anticipated movement." as qutoted by the previous comment but agree that opinions and critiques from forum to forum will be wide and varied with a lot of forums rating too high often on an emotive basis rather than on any sound premise. We have to learn to choose which critiques we value and ajust our position accordingly.Focus on the positive!
I like the cropping on this image, I like that it faces towards the left, I was taught that you should always leave space on the side that your subject is "headed" ( walking, running, etc. Also, I did think that the image was a little dark, but when you look at their white feathers, you see it is properly exposed, So I guess the proper thing for me to wish for would have been that the swans had whiter feathers on their heads! lol. I really like the Depth of Field on this photo as well, I like that it goes to pitch black. Very Awesome.
Rachel
What happens when you hit a Thousand?Should I watch for Balloons?
