I know, another one. However, given weather and work circumstances it is either this or images of the test chart in my living room :) . Having said that I feel the mallards are starting to look better.
With the late sun over my shoulder I liked the clarity of the water in this image.
All c&c welcome, and I promise there will be some diversification soon :D
7D
500mm
Av +2
1/250
f/5.6
ISO 800
Evaluative
About 12% cropped away, levels and curves
I also like the angle of the duck and the details are very good. I can tell you're getting the hang of this new lens! Now, for the composition...
When photographing live objects, either go in close for the head and shoulders or go all out and get the whole body. Getting half of the body with all that water in front makes me, as the viewer, think you missed the timing of the image. I wonder why you didn't wait to get the whole bird in the frame. it's the same with people when we photograph them from the knees up...it just looks funny. So, I'd either take a lot off all four sides and really get in close to the head/upper body or I'd start shooting the entire bird...compositionally I think you'll find it makes for a stronger image. ;)
I do not know whether it makes it better or worse, but the crop was intentional :)
I thought at this distance getting the whole bird in frame would have left it a little tight, so opted for the "half-cut" duck. I had seen some recent crops of this kind over in Avian that were deemed to successful so I thought I would give it a go.
I will return to tight portraits or full birds for next time.
On a separate note, ETL postings seem to have dropped significantly in recent times. I am not talking about moderator input, I know the status there, but rather original image postings. Looking over at Avian every so often I get the feeling that some images that would have been in ETL before are being posted there. Just an observation and comment :)
Ben, in the end, the crop is your decision...I know for me it looks cut off in the OP. Some will differ their opinions and that's fine. I call 'em like I see 'em.
And you're right...the postings have fallen off lately and that's okay - it goes in cycles. Whenever you feel ready to post in the Avian forum I highly encourage you to do so - especially when you feel a particular image is very strong. We're always here in ETL to offer a gentler, more "teachable" critique and to take a little more time to answer any questions you may have about what you could do differently next time or how to do something particular in post-processing.
People grow and move on...that means we're doing our job!
mallard monotony?
Posting Permissions
