Dipped dipper

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

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

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

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

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

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???

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

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

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

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