Dave, this is really nice. I like the sharp detail, clean BG and of course, the eye. With waterfowl, I am always wondering how much canvas to dedicate to the wake versus how much space to leave in front of the bird. I will be curious as to hear if others will weigh in on this. Well done.
I am just beginning my BPN life and have much to learn, not the least in judging images, but looking at this lovely image I think I would remove the blue reflection on the body of the bird (most notibly on the shoulder and rear) to isolate the bird a bit more from the water and make it stand out a tad more.
Dave, that might just be the blue of the water being reflected up on the bird - you may or may not be able to fix that but try desaturating the blues in a hue/adjustment layer and see what happens. You can always paint them back to full strength in the rest of the image.
I like your details and the HA. This is one time where I'd agree that the wake is nice enough to give it more room than what would normally be up front. I'm not sure I love the pano crop here because I do generally like more room above the bird and here he's almost dead center. It's your image and your vision though so do what you think is best.
I like your re-post more than your op. But I think I would prefer less wake and more room right. You have the wave at the chest which will preserve the sense of motion. Still an excellent image as posted.
Peter
I'm interested in the feedback on this one, too - I often have the same issue: how much wake to include, where that seems to add motion to the photo, but creates other composition issues.
I think that at some point in time it becomes a personal choice and what you like.
For me, moving the bird back in the frame, while giving more room to swim into, would leave the bird more centered and in my mind some less featured water in front.
Common Goldeneye
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