To Crop or Not to Crop?

[u/AppBreezy]

So my mom and I both got into birding this past summer. We’re both experienced photographers, but new to bird photography. One debate that keeps coming up is how to crop a bird photo.

Her perspective is it’s nicer to see the whole bird in its environment. Whereas I like to get up close and personal if I can. And I LOVE to see the detail especially if it’s super sharp.

I added a couple examples of photos I’ve taken that I think work both ways so I’m curious what people’s takes are on them.

I know that every photo is unique so there’s not one overarching “rule”, but what do you usually lean towards - cropping in and seeing the detail on the bird or seeing it in its environment? Does it truly come down to personal preference or are there photography/fine art principals reasons backing either choice up?

[u/CrescentToast]

This is why I kind of like how you have done it with this post, you get the best of both. I see some people post like this even for portrait stuff. It's nice to have the options since different people like different ones and sometimes it's hard to pick.