Some people told me, in their eyes the font was to big. Michelle even said, the banner was hiding parts of the pic she likes very much.

At first, i do want to say thank you all for giving helpful critique. I really appreciate that. :-)

This said, please let me explain why i did what i did. I love this icy sculpture in the front .. since first seing it at the end of a long walk. But there was no chance to get the background blurred out or find a POV with a more pleasing backdrop. Also there was heavy snow beginning so i had no chance of playing with aperture. Still took the shot ..

Afterwards those twigs and the like in the back started annoying me more and more and i've been looking for a way to hide them without ruining what i wanted to show. That banner (with lots of gaussian blur) seemed to be a fine way. Seems i was wrong with that?

So i put this new version in for you to discuss. Do you like this one more .. even less? What are your ideas on that shot? Don't the twigs bother you at all? What would you do? Please don't hesitate to tell me if you even think, that shot is lost for the bad background!

Thanks in advance
Tom