Printable View
While looking for barred owls at Lake Martin, I spotted this wood duck drake in a cypress tree. Any suggestions on improving this image or what I should have done prior to pressing the shutter button? I would like to make a print if the quality is good enough. Thanks.
March 17, 07 7:27 am
Canon 20D
Canon 500mm with 1.4 TC
1/50s f/5.6 iso400
Av mode
Eval. metering +2/3
No Flash
What a setting for a duck !!!! Love this image Tim !!!! Would have liked to see the duck closer to the lower right corner Would have given you the top part of the tree for framing and small birds in frame generally look better in corners !!!
For printing might try masking the duck and cloning the green around the little guy Keeps us informed on the spoons Sure hope they come back in numbers !!!!
It makes a nice change to see more habitat in the background of a bird, so I would leave the composition as it is. Often I would agree with Alfred when he says place the duck in the corner, but here you would lose the lovely texture of the trailing lichen and miss out on the end of the branch, which currently anchors the bird nicely inside its natural frame. This is the sort of image that not only has a main focus (the bird) but also lets your eye explore the patterns and textures around the frame. This image would last far longer on my wall than a closer portrait of a Wood Duck against a clean background.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I'll work on what Alfred suggested and repost to compare.
I really love the setting in this photograph, and it most likely will make a great print. The only thing I don't like as much here is the OOF branch sticking up from the lower left corner.
