Barrow's goldeneye young drake

[Allen Hirsch]

I'm making a conscious effort to try to get down to eye level (if not water level) with these water birds. First time I've seen a young Barrow's drake, too.

50D + 500L, on tripod with Wimberley. ISO 640, f4.5, 1/500 ss. Slight cropping for composition, tweaked levels.

[Tom Redd]

Allen, good exposure, sharp. I might shift the bird a little to the left, but others might not. I would give the bird a slight amount if CCW rotation. TFS

[Dave Leroy]

A very nice pose with the slight head turn.

I also go for a bit of ccw rotation.

If mine I might consider a pano look with some off top and bottom. My preference is for more fg but I think most prefer the bird is bottom of frame.

It seems that if no good reflection is available than the lower you are the better it looks so good for you to get lower.

Dave

[Julie Kenward]

Allen, your overall image feels a little underexposed to me (probably trying to keep from blowing out the whites on the bird maybe?) I tried a shadow/highlight adjustment and that seemed to open up the darker areas of the BG a bit more. I also recropped and did the rotation the others were suggesting. I love that the colors of the water match up with the bird...what a lovely overall image!

[Allen Hirsch]

That is much better, Julie - thanks!

I never know how much to crop until I start losing IQ, but this image could certainly take the cropping you did without losing any sharpness. The shadow/highlight adjustment also makes it pop more.