Fifty Shade Of White...

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image of a Mute Swan at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, camera and lens supported by a monopod
1/640 F/11 Matrix Metering EV +1 ISO 1800 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 290mm
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

[David Roach]

At least 50... Love the water and nice preening pose but wish for less of a down angle. Beautiful canvas overall. TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

I love the pose and the exposure looks excellent, just a minor point from my POV, I would sharpen the eye a little more.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice frame, with fun feather textures to look at - especially the left half of the image. Not sure if its just me, but I feel the image could go a bit brighter, especially the face area

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, another corker, agree with Jon re just opening things up a little, I'd drop some of the blue in the whites so more of the creamy yellow albeit subtle comes through and a hint more USM overall. Some great detail as presented, but will look even better slightly crisper IMHO.

TFS
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

Not sure if its just me, but I feel the image could go a bit brighter, especially the face area

FWIW Dan, I sent him this... it might answer your thoughts????

[Randy Stout]

Joe:

Agree about the great feather textures. Shooting angle ok for me. The brighter face area in Steve's repost is a plus.

Cheers

Randy

[Joseph Przybyla]

FWIW Dan, I sent him this... it might answer your thoughts????

Hi Steve, thanks for viewing and suggesting improvements. I used your edit as a guide and with the tools in Lightroom I came up with this trying to match yours. WDYT?

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, no idea if mine is an improvement, you were there, but I still feel the feathers are more cooler, rather than warmer, would they be? Glad you retained the darker blue of the water. Try the eye dropper and then making a composite if that helps?

All the best.

Steve

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe, no idea if mine is an improvement, you were there, but I still feel the feathers are more cooler, rather than warmer, would they be? Glad you retained the darker blue of the water. Try the eye dropper and then making a composite if that helps?

All the best.

Steve

Hi Steve, I think I may be blue/cooler challenged.:2eyes2: Anyways here is another edit and repost that I raised the temperature on just the bird. WDYT?

[Dorian Anderson]

Detail and hue improve across the various versions, so that's good on the processing front. The layered feathers are very pretty, but the lack of eye contact is an issue for me. I also feel like your caught between a body and head shot here. It's mostly personal preference, but I'm usually after one or the other.

[Brian Sump]

Joe, beautiful canvas.

Pose is elegant and like the comp. You captured lots of details.

If you perhaps added a touch of brightness and sort the WB I think it's a keeper for sure!

[Steve Kaluski]

I think you are there Joe, but going selective rather than global will help you, but we've chatted about this many times. :S3:

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated.