Dipped dipper

[Kalin Botev]

I don’t know if the dipper is small enough to qualify for the theme but I’ll give it a try.

Nikon D3, 300 mm f/2.8 +1.4 TC
@f/4, 1/1000s, ISO 1600
Cropped for composition.

Thanks for your advices on how to improve!
Kalin

[John Robinson]

Superb shot Kalin. Just right for the theme I reckon. Seen them like this so many times but always zoomed in ! Minor nit would be the bright area in the BG- easily fixed if you wished to.
Great stuff.!!
Cheers
John

[gail bisson]

The dipper itself is sweet and I like your POV.
A bit more of a head turn our way would have been nice.The bright area in the BG overwhelms the bird.
I would crop this significantly from the top ( to the apex of lowest OOF rock on the left)to create a tight pano. Do you have more room on the right to include the entire rock on the RHS?
I would then burn the bright areas that remain.
I think these simple fixes would really make this a nice image
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Kalin:

Good advice from John and Gail. Agree about a sig. crop from above, toning down the remaining bright areas, a luminosity mask would be a good choice.

I can certainly see an extreme pano with rock on right side included, as Gail suggested, but also a less extreme pano where the right rock is cropped out completely.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

Kalin, whichever direction you go in any recrop, I think adding a Gradute filter at the foot up, slightly darken the FG will give more depth to the image.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Love it but I would take a good slice off the top cropping to just above the large rock on the left. then I would tone down the buff coloured area in the background. A great image how many people have seen a dipper in almost still water I wonder???

[Kalin Botev]

Hey guys!
I'm sorry for not being able to respond earlier. Thanks all for the great advices. This was my first attempt with luminosity masks. I cropped a lot of the top area but unfortunately did not have any space on the right.
Let me know what you think and what else could be done.
Thanks, Kalin

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Kalin, not sure if it's less above more FG or as presented? It is better, but I still think having a darker FG would help, as the light is just too even across the whole image and there is no real feeling of 'Tonal depth' to me.

Love the Dipper, exquisite! :cheers:

Steve

[Kalin Botev]

Thank you Steve! The foreground is less than the original. I will give it another try and see what it looks like when darkened a bit. Thanks again for the assistance!
K

[Steve Kaluski]

Kalin, it's just a thought, if you think not and happy with what you have, fine.