Hal, I see two things right off that I think you can improve on...first being the OOF plants at the bottom of the frame. Since they are so close to the edge and so OOF, I feel the image would be stronger without them included. I'd go with a pano crop just a bit below the reflection and leave the top of the frame as is.
I'm also wondering about some CCW rotation - the water on the right side of the bird feels to me like it is higher than the left side - might check the proportions and see if you can even that out without the bird looking all out of whack in the feet area.
Nice HA and good catch light in the eyes. You might also try to bring up the shadowed area near his neck and see if that helps bring out a little more detail. Let me know if you have any questions!
Super stickleback action Hal! Love the reflection too. Agree with Jules a slight CW rotation would bring the image into line. The water ripples give this away but I did say slight. Also totally agree with Jules on cropping the green off the bottom. For certain uses like wall art, I think some water cleanup would help too. This can be easily done with a variety of tools in Photoshop.
Re cropped, rotated 1 degree clockwise, water cleaned, and did some dodging on the neck. I am not sure I like the neck now, but maybe that is because I know it has been altered. Thank you both.
Greetings. I see some artifacts in the repost in the water (very small brush diameter needed for cleanup). Also the neck picked up an odd color. Much better without the green bottom. Great moment...
Greater Yellowlegs and Minnow
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