Mallards--too much water?

[Hazel Grant]

Caught these mallards on the campus pond at SIU this week. Overcast day. Wondering about all the grey water around them. I cropped it some, but is it still too boring a setting? 1/400, f5.6, iso200 135mm. hand held
cropped, selective burning, slight increase on blacks.

[Linda Robbins]

Hazel, I think your crop is fine for this cute pair. Getting lower would give you a better perspective and on an overcast day like this a little fill flash would brighten the faces and bring life to the ducks' eyes.

[Randy Stout]

Hazel:

Linda hit the high points. My only observation would be about the perspective. My first impression when I looked at the image was, needs a lower perspective. But, my second thought was, with the exact same bird placement, the head of the front bird would then merge with the rear, which might not be what you really wanted.

So, as always, its a trade off. My mental reminder is: when in doubt, move about. Take it at different levels, different framing, see what works best. The good folks can tell ahead of time what works, but for me, I need to try several setups when possible, to see what looks the best. Sometimes you get some nice surprises!

Def. agree about a touch of fill flash too!

Randy

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the mood and a lower angle would have made it a more intimate portrait. In light like this positive EC helps a lot, too, to bring out more details in the shadows.

[David Thomasson]

Very nice. A little work with levels and S/H could bring out shadow details a little more and give the effect of fill flash.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2047/mallard2.jpg

[Hazel Grant]

Thanks for comments. Like to re=do David.