Lesser Scaup in soft golden light

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/10761050-lg.jpg

Light at sunset was golden and soft today. And fortunately this Scaup was in a cooperative mood. I have left the reddish hue in there because that is how it looked. Looking for advise on crop. I have some more room around on all sides. Thx for looking.

40D. 400f/5.6 at f/7.1. iso 400. 1/400s. hand held.

[Sid Garige]

Beautiful eye contact and background with interesting subject. Very nice details. Well done job KD.

Looks like image needs a bit of contrast boost and little more space at the bottom.

[Aidan Briggs]

I really love the soft warm light here. And the low angle. And the perfect exposure. I like the comp too. The only thing I wish for is for the duck to be facing you just a tad more.

Well Done

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful shot. Wonderful light and beautiful water. I like the green reflections on the duck's head.

Markus

[Rahul Sachdev]

Wonderful light on this one. I agree about the contrast...touch it up a bit and this should really pop

[Stu Bowie]

Kaustubh, comp works fine although a tiny more space behind will work. Lovely soft light and warm colours, and I would maybe selectively sharpen him a little more.

[Steve Maxson]

Beautiful light, good sharpness, and a nice low shooting angle, Kaustubh. I think the crop works well, as presented. Does the image need just a bit of CCW rotation - it may be just an optical illusion given that the bird's body is angled away from the camera. Given the very soft light, I'm not sure that increasing contrast, as suggested above, would be an improvement though it might be worth checking out to see which version you like better. Well done.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Thx everyone. I have a better head angle but not the same nice BG in it. Plus that one is a very typical composition. I liked this more because of the angled orientation of the bird. And since, tail-to-bill is sharp, I didn't mind the head angle that much.

Am sure with some expert post processing, the contrast can be improved. I didn't want to block or blow any part. On the shadow end, yes, there is some room to darken further but details might not be seen on many monitors.

Yes, a tad CCW rotation might be needed but not as much as it seems. The waves fool our eyes. And with a distorted reflection, I could not line it up on grid( which is what I usually do to level) and rotate.

Here is another image. a better natural pop and a nicer BG IMO. But not the same angled orientation as OP. But some will like this one better.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/10762590-lg.jpg

[Dave Leroy]

Nicely done and good job on capturing the feeling of the soft evening light.
I had also wondered about a little ccw rotation but it is very hard to tell for sure.
Crop is a personal choice and this one works well; if mine I might add a bit to bottom and right side.
Photo has lots of nice detail and I wonder if you do not prefer the idea of a slight increase of contrast whether a bit of selective sharpening around head area would be an added bonus.
Very nice low angle and good for you to capture the feeling.
Dave