Baby gator photo edit

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Joe B

Joe B

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I got to see some young alligators the other day, and this is the shot I like best from the bunch. Here's the photo after my first pass at editing (not at my monitor right now, so I'll take another look when I get back to it). Any thoughts as to what I might do different/better? Of course, there's the obvious in the field things, like remembering to change shutter speed and remove the exposure compensation (facepalm).

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Current edit

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As imported
 
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For me cropping is always trial and error. My first impulse, not knowing if it would work or not, would be a lot more cropping. I would start with removing a little less than half the top and half the space between the snout and right edge. I would also consider removing some of the larger vegetation - the one at the end of the alligator (bent to the right) seems like it could easily be removed as could the top of the one growing around the middle of body.
You've done a nice job lightening the head and eyes. You might consider darkening the water around the head back to its original shade?
Until I do some edits I don't know if they work, I usually let them sit overnight. These suggestions might look terrible but that would be something I would try.
 
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Thanks for the thoughts Bob. I played around with some of your suggestions and ran it through topaz denoise, which produced pretty good results with this image. I might try and print it eventually in the 2x3 format, but I'm also trying for a 16x9 to add to my rotating desktop backgrounds. Here's where it is for now. Like you said, it may change after I let them sit for a night or two.

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I really like the head, the eye, the reflection. You've done a great job with the head and eyes. I don't know what size file you are working with so I took a stab at a big crop. This is just a personal judgement - what might work for me will not work for others - may not work for you.
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I agree, I really like the eye and the reflection, but that probably pushes the file a bit too far for using as a desktop. I could try some small to medium prints maybe. Cropping to that would leave me with a little less than full HD, 1870x1052, and it's starting to look pixely on my 14" laptop screen. I would have liked to get in a little closer, but the mama gator was watching... As it stands, I'm pleasantly surprised that the image holds up as well as it does with that deep of a crop, considering I'm using a 30+ year old manual lens on a 24MP crop sensor. And I goofed the exposure to boot
 
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