Sunrise Canvasback

[Stan Cunningham]

Laid on the shore of an urban lake for this one as the sun came up. Nice plummage.
Although I don't like how dark his chest is, I think the light accenting his eye his nice. Water color is not due to nice processing, just luck and there since dark.
Tried to use rule of thirds but tough to get a close up and leave enough canvas on one side.
Critiques and comments always appreciated.
Canon 7D, 1- 400 5.6 at 400 mm on a bean bag. ISO 400.

Any one think I should crop a little off the top, this is a "standard size" but don't really need that for a monitor or web display.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice low angle but the light was not ideal, the blacks are blocked and the overall details/IQ isn't great. you may want to run some NR on the BG too.

[Randy Stout]

Stan:

Good angle, eye really stands out, head angle good.

Arash hit the major areas of concern. It is a challenge to make dappled light images work. Obviously the eye has to be illuminated, which you have done well here, but the breast is pretty dark. If noise weren't a concern, you could try reprocessing it during the raw conversion with considerably more exposure for the dark areas, and then combining the two images.

From a comp. standpoint, a little tight on the left, and as you thought, a sliver off the top.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the sloping forehead and bill these guys have, and your image showcases this nicely. Good points from Arash and Randy, and I would also point out that there are some clone marks still visible near the left edge that need to be taken care of.

[Stan Cunningham]

Thanks guys, I guess I like the photo so much since it's different then just a nice close image well exposed.
Randy, I think I see what you are talking about but I didn't clone this pic, the water was clear all the way so I had nothing to get rid of.
May try to patch and move that spot, no idea why that area looks like that but good spot on your part.
Thanks

[Randy Stout]

Stan:

Daniel actually mentioned the suspicious area in the water, not me. A little light clone stamping at 20-30% opacity would smooth it out just enough.

Funny how water gives that effect sometimes.

Cheers

Randy

By the way, keep right on posting slightly different takes on bird images, good to get the variety!

[Stu Bowie]

Stan, I like how the light has been cast on part of the head and eye. The darker areas covered above. I do like the colour of the water BG, and agree with taking some off the top, and some NR needed on the BG.

[Dan Busby]

I see what you like about this one Stan. That gleaming eye really draws you in. I would like to see a bit more room on the left and agree with those remarks already made concerning dark breast, the unusual "not-cloning" patterns on left side and NR on BG.