Hello, this is my first post. I look forward to your C&C
Nikon D300
600mm Nikkor
AP Shutter 1/800@f/4 ISO 640
Location - Backbay Newport Beach CA
Time of Day - Morning overcast
PP - CS5 (levels,sat,contrast,noise reduction)
Hi Michael - Big warm welcome to the BPN family - do not hesitate to jump right in and leave comments on other peoples images - all we ask is that you say what it is you like or dont like about the image - no better or faster way to improve your own images.
Nice first post - couple of things come to mind - will let others have their say first and come back :)
Love the patterns and detail in all the feathers Michael. The exposure looks good. There are a few things you can do to improve future images. Try to get lower, a lot lower. IMO the best bird images are made at bird eye level, which for a duck would be a few cm or inches above water level. "Get down and dirty" is the phrase we live by! But seriously, this does mean being prepared to do it. No one expects you to lay in freezing cold water with no water-proofs on! And having said this, it's not often possible at all to get down to this level. My choice in these situations is to go somewhere else because I know the end-result is not going to work. The other issue I will mention is the composition. You have a pretty strong reflection in the water but still it often works best to give more room above the bird than below the reflection. If the reflection is not strong, crop it out, or at least most of it. There are a few other things to be mentioned but I'll leave it to others.
Nice image of the bird, Michael, and welcome to BPN.
The BG and FG are both a little busy & distracting (stalks). So try to get a cleaner angle with the camera, or be prepared for more pp time after to take out some of those distracting elements.
Thank you all for your constructive comments. Initially, it was my intent to capture the bird in its natural environment, hence the reeds and stalks. I now see that the higher angle that I shot from may not have been the best. I will definitely get down "low".
Hello, this is my first post. I look forward to your C&C
Pintail hen
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