I disagree. I think the crop is a bit to tight - although trimming the top seems to be a good idea. However, losing the pails in the foreground removes the books which are apart of the story elements Cropping to just below the lower edge of the "main book" is about as far as I'd go with ~this~ pic. A little more air on the right would be OK, too.
The drummer is a very expressive and animated subject, friendly and outgoing. Is the perfect case for shooting lots of frames, from different angles, focusing even on different aspects of the scene. He'd let you move in close with short lenses, he'll talk with you while you're shooting. He's a showman, he wants exposure and wants to be photographed - his business is on the street, and anything that gets him more "face" time is to his advantage. He's easily worth an entire roll of film, or a 512mb memory card. Shel > [Original Message] > From: William Robb > > Here is the new cropped version: > > http://www.daytonphoto.com/PAW/norcalpdml_sf_009-2bwa.htm > > > > Here is the original: > > http://www.daytonphoto.com/PAW/norcalpdml_sf_009-2bw.htm > I like the right side cropped off. It diminishes the person behind the > mucisian even more than just cropping the head, removes a nothing > background, and gets rid of the two piles of plastic pails that aren't > really doing anything for the picture.

