Xaviera 'N' Frog Fountain

For me, the photoshopping is overdone, but looking through your portfolio, I see that you've done it with other photos, so it's a reasoned decision.

If this were mine, I'd work it some more in PS to eliminate to remove all the people at top left and think about cropping it just above the bench.

Thank you. I tried your recommendation as at first it seemed logical, but I just couldn't make it work. Although one incarnation looked ok it just wasn't right(crop to boys heads just above bench and wiping out left top group and woman in white). Taking out the top left group only didn't work either as the balance was then thrown off. I wanted the main focus to be the girl in the center and her interaction with the water. The girl on the right gives secondary action and depth to the story but visually needs to be balanced by the group at the top left. The little boy just isn't large enough. The only one that I can safely take out is the woman in white at the bench however she does add minimal depth to the story while being minimally distracting. So she stays.

The colous have been manipulated so as to bring a desired amount of focus to the children and their actions. (This image was very vivid in colour and especially in GREENS which I felt distracted from the story)

John, Thank You for your critique. It has been most helpful in evaluating where I am in my struggle for complex composition.

Warmly....Jay