Another Foggy Teal

[Bill Dix]

This one is the Green-winged Teal hen, I believe. From Palo Alto Baylands on a foggy morning several weeks ago. C&C always appreciated.

I tweaked the levels in PP. Perhaps it could pop more if I applied the same additional tweaking that was suggested in my previous post (adding black to neutrals), but I didn't want to lose all of the foggy character. What do you think?

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/400s @ f/6.3 manual, fill @ -1.3 EV.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Wonderful image Bill. Like the perfectly still water reflecting the foggy conditions. It's a judgement call, but I prefer this image, and your original post from yesterday, not adding black to the neutrals.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

I like the pose and your execution of this image, Bill. I wonder what this will look like with a full reflection and a lot more negative space.

[Marina Scarr]

This image is really working for me, Bill. The duck appears to relaxed with you, and I really like the pose, the comp and the high key effect.

[Iain Barker]

Really nice image Bill. I like the peaceful feel of it. I too was wondering about more reflection.

Iain

[Bill Dix]

I like the pose and your execution of this image, Bill. I wonder what this will look like with a full reflection and a lot more negative space.

Hi Sidharth. I personally liked the detail in the bird, and the eye. I thought a tighter crop would focus more on those aspects. I liked the reflection of the green wing patch, but otherwise the reflection didn't do much for me. For one thing, the eye doesn't show well in the reflection. I actually felt that the OP showed a little too much reflection (begging the question why I didn't show it all); but I didn't want to crop out the reflected green wing patch. Here's a repost with the full reflection -- this is 91% of full width.

[gail bisson]

Ooo...I really like the repost! The reflection is perfect.
I think it needs a hint of CW rotation.
I think if you added just 1 point of black in the neutrals to the duck only ( not the reflection), you would get the pop without losing the foggy feeling.
A beautiful image,
Gail

[keith mitchell]

Bill this image works for me as posted I don't think I would change a thing.

Keith.:S3:

[Karl Egressy]

Beauty image Bill. The repost with the full reflection is better.

[Bill Dix]

Always nice to see a difference of opinion. Gail, as an exercise I tried a different approach. I added a Soft Light adjustment layer at 25% opacity to the bird, which has the effect of slightly boosting contrast and saturation; and I "enhanced" the eye in the reflection. Curious to know what you and others think. I'm personally still leaning toward the OP, but willing to accept more than one answer.

[Enrique Patino]

Hi Bill,

I moved the bird back a little, added some canvas, did a slight CW rotation, and played with it a little. See what you think...

134153

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Hi Bill, I prefer the comp in your RPs significantly more than that in the OP and I love the full reflection.
Enrique's RP is too centered for my taste.
Comp being such a subjective thing, it's nice to see these different interpretations though.

[Don Railton]

Hi Bill

I prefer pane 6 with the full reflection and the soft foggy feel to it..

DON

[Bill Dix]

Thank you everyone for all of your comments, suggestions and opinions.

Enrique, thanks for taking the time to work on the image. I share Sidharth's view that the off-center comp is more suited to my personal taste. It feels a little more dynamic. In fact, I felt that the OP was more dynamic yet, but I'm warming to the idea that the full reflection may be the better one.

[Enrique Patino]

You are welcome Bill. I was focusing more on the tonal contrast than the comp. But, now that we are talking about it... how would one define off-center comp? or more to the point... what defines the center? I look at the OP and it look to the right to me, and in my re-post, it looks like to to the left... Often photogs refer to the need to "give the bird room to move" and even if the bird was just floating... floating has a direction also, doesn't it? :)

[Bill Dix]

You are welcome Bill. I was focusing more on the tonal contrast than the comp. But, now that we are talking about it... how would one define off-center comp? or more to the point... what defines the center? I look at the OP and it look to the right to me, and in my re-post, it looks like to to the left... Often photogs refer to the need to "give the bird room to move" and even if the bird was just floating... floating has a direction also, doesn't it? :)

You're quite right. With this image I had a choice: give room in the direction the body is pointing, or in the direction the bird's head is looking. I chose the latter. It seems that this image offered lots of choices, with lots of room for personal preference. Thanks for commenting.