Young Male Gadwall

[Paul Guris]

I'm looking for help on the crop I chose for this image. Even though it's not particularly strong, I wanted to retain the reflection. I'm afraid I might be too vertically centered, though. I'm also hoping I'm not cropped in too tight on the tail. Comments appreciated.



Nikon D7000 w/ Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED + TC1.4
ISO 400, f/9, 1/1250, 420mm (630mm equivalent)

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Paul,

There are several options here, feel free to post alternates as well. The two that come to mind are 1) expanded with more room showing ripples and head room 2) same concept in a pano format. The ripples and dark water are very controlling and will cause the eye to exit the frame if not allowed run off IMO. Of course, interesting to see what others say, thanks for posting.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Paul, this looks really nice to me and I would suggest a looser crop all around if possible. Maybe a bit off the bottom. Duck looks great against the nice blue water, exposure and color balance look spot on. Good work! I would suggest evicting the bright specular highlight on the right edge of the frame, in the dark area of the wake. There are a few on the back end of the bird as well.