Foggy Morning Mandarin...

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Lake Mirror in Lakeland, Florida one foggy morning. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/1000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering +1 2/3 EV ISO 2000 AWB
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition

[Bill Dix]

Very nice pose and detail, and great reflection on Mirror Lake. Excellent colors. My only nit is that the lily pads seem washed out -- perhaps you toned down the highlights on the duck and reflection but not the vegetation? Maybe a good thing to keep, them from competing with the beautiful duck, but it caught my eye.

[Diane Miller]

A well-named lake, apparently! I think Bill has a good point about bringing down the lily pads -- maybe extend that to the general exposure, to a slight extent. Also wonder if an adjustment for the green cast in the reflection would be worth looking at.

For me, the subject could be moved higher in the frame. I'd crop halfway to the head and probably add some canvas at the bottom. But a nicely detailed image of a gorgeous subject!

[Bill Nuttall]

the bg is just too stark and maybe "blown" for me

I also feel that the crop has too much headroom

[Joseph Przybyla]

Bill, Diane, and Bill, thank you for viewing, commenting, and suggesting improvements. I re-visited the image and using your suggestions here is a repost. Thanks again for being another set of eyes, very much appreciated.

[Bill Nuttall]

Joseph

I would just try a 16 x 9 or thereabout and see what it looks like - there just seems too much "negative space" above which detracts from your excellent image

maybe "warm" the image up a very little

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks Bill, here is what I worked on since my last repost. I remembered Diane suggesting adding canvas and taking some off the top. This looks more balanced and there is less negative space at the top. Thanks for chiming in again.

[Diane Miller]

This last one is wonderful, to me!

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image.

Regards,
Satish.

[Marina Scarr]

Last one works best for me, but I'd try a version without the vegetation. For me, it's pulling my eye away from your most amazing subject and making the frame a bit too busy.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting, and suggesting improvements, very much appreciated.