Mute Swan (c)

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image early on a recent morning at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. I am not sure if the image is where it would be shown at it's best. I keep going back and starting over, I guess not satisfied with the results. WDYT? Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm PF, camera and lens supported by a Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 1250 White Balance set with Eyedropper, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2023 and Topaz Denoise AI
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Dorian Anderson]

The bird looks fantastic; the exposure is perfect and the details are super sharp. I only wish the swan was higher in the frame we'd be able to see more of that gorgeous orange water. Top of the frame, where there's a ton of not-so-interesting negative space feel very empty. I suspect you put the center focus point on the bird's eye without thinking to move it up in the viewfinder in that instant.

[Randy Stout]

Joe:

Agree with Dorian about the comp., too much at the top. This is a situation where eye tracking is so helpful, you can capture the eye and then recompose the image for the best composition, without loosing focus.

To my eye the image needs a few degrees of CW rotation. The bird is actually angled towards us a bit in the frame, and shouldn't be level, while the water should be.

Colors work very nicely with the mute swan.

Cheers

Randy

[Jonathan Ashton]

I really enjoyed viewing, colours are beautiful. If you do have a little more at the base I would include it and lose a little off the top.