While I enjoy your outtake a lot, I really prefer your entry. Even just for the wings on the bird, but also for the deep toning, which fits with the books IMO.
I honestly thought it would do much better than it did. I wasn't expecting to be in ribbon territory, but I thought I could manage a top 20 finish, oh well, c'est la vie!
So this evening, my wife suggested this crop as a better alternative. I think I agree with her (she couldn't tell me before I entered!!)
A couple of other options were
None of these actually matched my original idea. I was outside at the BBQ for supper and was watching my breath in the air and thought - hey breath starts with B. So what I had in my mind was that I would get a shot of my daughter's breath in the winter air (it was 4 degrees Celsius out) with the stars from the night sky as the background. I gave it a few attempts before the reality of my skills as a photographer slapped me in the face.
