Common Goldeneye

[Jim Crosswell]

This was taken at the house a couple of weeks ago. Hope you enjoy the image.

Nikon D500
Sigma 150-600 @480mm
ISO 1250
f7.1
1/2500s
Handheld

[Arthur Morris]

Love the wake, the reflection, and the quartering view. The image looks very flat and dull to me. You might wish to eliminate the specular highlights on the bill. The bird is a bit low in the frame.

with love, artie

[John Mack]

Neat how that water is trailing of the bill. The bow wake is nice.

[Jim Crosswell]

Love the wake, the reflection, and the quartering view. The image looks very flat and dull to me. You might wish to eliminate the specular highlights on the bill. The bird is a bit low in the frame.

with love, artie

Thanks Arthur. Here is a repost with a little bill clean up and boost in the neutrals and blacks in selective color plus a bit more vibrance.

[Jim Crosswell]

Neat how that water is trailing of the bill. The bow wake is nice.

Thanks John it reminds me of a boxer after he takes a hit.

[gail bisson]

Before I read Artie's comment, I thought the exact same thing.
Repost is much better.
Good POV.
Could this use a bit of CCW rotation?
Gail

[Brian Sump]

Jim, I love Goldeneyes and would love to have them in my backyard!

So I couldn't really put to words what might help the frame, so I took it in and played with it.

Please know, I rarely make a repost on other people's threads but just wanted you to have something else to look at. I can understand if you hate it as well, but maybe it helps.

Also, I am attaching a screenshot of the edits I made:

[Arthur Morris]

Good job with the reposts and the additional comments. But for me, this one is still lacking the usual crispness that I associate with Jim's work.

with love, a

[annmpacheco]

Repost looks better but i agree with Artie, the duck is not crisp, needs more definition, is this a big crop and have you applied any NR to the duck Jim?

[David Roach]

Hi Jim, Love the oncoming pose with perfect view of that eye and the bow wake. Nice and sharp where it needs to be and all the water drops really add to this frame. TFS

[kevin Hice]

Yes the reposts are better and learned a few things. Just doesn't pop and I have plenty like that. Maybe the light just doesn't add the pizazz needed. Light and background adds so much overall IMO. TFS

[Jim Crosswell]

Thanks everyone for the comments and time. The duck was in a shadow so the light wasn't in my favor, like Kevin was mentioning. Ann this represents about 65 percent of the original frame and I under exposed the image on top of that. I didn't run NR on the duck but did on the BG.
Brian I'm glad that you reworked the image and please feel free to do so anytime. I like how you included the screen shot of the adjustments you made. This is helpful for me and I appreciate your time and expertise.
I posted the image because of the water trailing from the bill even though it had its shortcomings.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jim .... a very nice frame .
I do like the low POV and the overall clean design . Nice water in front with the soft waves ....
Preferences in terms of color and tones are widely different here ..... .... so I do throw another version into the mix , hope you do not mind .
As i do prefer PS over LR ... I made the edits and attached a screen shot of the layers that I used . I do prefer the layer work ( with luminosity masks ) over moving sliders from left to right .

Nice one TFS Andreas

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jim, lovely low angle, and just love the droplet from the beak. Yes to all the positives already mentioned, and Andreas has shown us another possible version.

[Jim Crosswell]

Hi Jim .... a very nice frame .
I do like the low POV and the overall clean design . Nice water in front with the soft waves ....
Preferences in terms of color and tones are widely different here ..... .... so I do throw another version into the mix , hope you do not mind .
As i do prefer PS over LR ... I made the edits and attached a screen shot of the layers that I used . I do prefer the layer work ( with luminosity masks ) over moving sliders from left to right .

Nice one TFS Andreas

Thanks Andreas. I use PS as well but I still haven't tackled using layers. Your repost looks good to me and thanks for taking the time .