It was overcast again this morning, in fact, was sprinkling a little when I had to give up. This Pied-billed Grebe was diving almost constantly; however, I did not see him bring anything up today. All my adjustments were minor -- crop, white balance, clarity, vibrance, saturation and sharpening -- in Lightroom. Suggestions, please . . .
Hi Wendell,
The base image is good. I like the blue tones in the water...the duck is at the point of swimming away from you, right at the boarder line...and your capture angle is steep. you have good details and a sharp eye, the head angle is a tad off. there is noise in the background, and there is too much negative space on top and not enough space at the bottom; the reflection looks tight; needing more room at the bottom...I modified the composition into a pano to take away the negative space on top, and added a small of canvas at the bottom. I ran noise reduction in the background, adjusted the mid-tones, adjusted saturation and contrast, and selective sharpened the area around the eye, and along the contour of the feathers...see if this presents best to you...:cool:
hi wendell - Love that water - IMHO - bird feels a little too centred and feel it needs more room at the bottom and some more space for him to swim into. I would also work the eye a little a tad of sharpening might do wonders and some NR on the background.
Also when you get a chance - try shooting from a lower angle.
Really nice Wendell. Love the reflection and would love to see more room for it in the bottom. Nice and sharp and agree with sharpening the eye and maybe even darkening it if there is some black in it. Also a bit of noise in the BG, but overall well done.
Jackie, I believe Pied-billed's eyes are more apt to be brown than black -- though I'm not sure. But it surely would look better selectively sharpened. (That "noise problem" you helped me with in the past still plagues me.)
Katie, I'd love to get lower, but it can't be done on any photos at this location. Of course, those who have longer lens reap the benefit of a smaller angle of vision for their photographs which are taken from a greater distance, making their photos look more level with the subject, while I can only "look down on my prey."
Repost sure looks good !!! Love that water and shadow detail on the grebe. Wendell if you check the histogram might be under by 2/3? Those need lots of light and you had some good light there. Gorgeous water !!!
Between dives
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