Shot from my floating blind last spring in North Dakota.Just love those eyes so mesmerizing like they are reading your soul. Processed with ACR no noise reduction. Been trying some different things in post. I think more noise showed up when I uploaded. I have tried Topaz noise lately and it seems to make more noise if that makes sense.
ACR does a good job on noise reduction. Tried processing a few photos going directly to ACR But thinking using Canons Dpp 4 does a better job especially controlling highlights. A work in progress. Thanks for comments and critiques.
Canon R5
Rf 400 2.8
400mm
2.8
1/1000
ISO 2000
Hi Kevin a floating blind is for sure a cool feature to get this kind of shot , glad to see you have the option to get it working at some locations .
A very sweet capture of the Cormorant , looks like a misty morning with sweet light ... I do like overall softness that you kept in the image . Silky water .... very nice .The Eye is just gorgeous .
Personally I would address the visible noise ... at least in the reflection .
Nice shot Kevin I love the cormorant - super position and pose. Regarding noise reduction I would personally recommend DeNoise in ACR optimising for individual images.
A much overlooked species, glad you took this beautiful image of it! Your floating blind provided a nice low angle. Perfect head / body angle on the subject too. Maybe a touch darker on the body and reflection? I know it is likely natural, but that would help IMO. All-in-all top notch!