Found a pair of these guys in a very small pond in a new housing estate, so easy to get closer to than normal (though still not frame-fillers ;)). Recent rain drops on the water added a bit of atmosphere I thought...comments welcome.
Taken with Canon 20D, 500 f/4, 1.4x TC, ISO 400, 1/250, f /6.3, AV, -1/3.
Very lovely. Great on the head turn and exposure. I can live with the specular highlights. Might go with more off the bottom as the complete head reflection is not there...
later and love, artie
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As one who loves specular highlights, I love the ones in the background, but get distracted with the ones in the front, maybe because they are bolder.
Cropping a bit may help,a dn I would treat the right bright ones as sensor dust: out!
I like the alert pose and that the image is sharp and well exposed - it's ever so easy to overexpose that yellow bill spot - no evidence of that here. It seems specular highlights are an aquired taste.
I like the pose and composition as well as the the colour of the water, the ripples have a nice effect in the overall shot. I also find the highlights distracting.
Thanks for the great feedback. Have done a quick and dirty job to try to utilise your suggestions...a bit of noise now but have run out of time for the moment to fiddle much more (and don't have a NR plug-in...yet!). Thanks again.
This is a most pleasing improvement Dean, that noise should be easy to fix up. Nice job. Might be nice to keep a bit more of the reflection though......