The brass section of the Carbondale (Ill.) Community High School Band during a jazz performance.

I took this using my Canon Rebel loaded with Fuji Superia 400 and a

Kodak Gear 80-210 lens. Due to the low light I stabilized my camera

on a tripod. What I like about this shot is the running diagonal

lines of the instruments finished off by the face in the upper right-

hand corner.

I used it in my photojournalism portfolio, and was told that a) I

should crop out the person on the far right and b) Should work to

make the two subjects in the foreground "pop" out of the photo. Do

any of you agree?

Yes, definately crop out the guy on the right, being sure to get rid of his white pants too. This gives the photo a uniformly dark edge, and binds it together. I'm not sure what you mean by trying to make the 2 subjects "pop" but I suppose you could dodge them a little. Its a very nice photo, a good portfolio shot.

Not an easy job to crop him out - You'd have to get rid of his finger also and you'd lose the back end of the trombone. I'd darken him, pants finger and all, so he wasn't so obtrusive.

I definately agree about the cropping of the guy on the right, but I would also crop the bottom up to the spout (or whatever its called) of the trombone of our main musician. I think it is important to focus on the faces and not be torn between the instrument and the musician as subject.