KP Birder
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Northern Pintail Drake
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BAL Land
Well-known member
A very nice shot! I like the lighting, blue water, and sharpness and noise control is very good.
A few suggestions:
1. I’m not a fan of the crop. I think there needs to be more room to the top and to the right of the bird.
2. The bird’s head angle is bad, but not ideal. I’d prefer a shot where the bird is looking more toward the camera.
3. The exposure is pretty good, but the image as a whole seem overexposed a little , and the white areas seem a little too bright.
And lastly, if it’s possible, I’d prefer a lower angle shot. I understand that at some locations this isn’t always possible, so if that was the case, then there’s nothing you can do about it. Nice reflection!
A few suggestions:
1. I’m not a fan of the crop. I think there needs to be more room to the top and to the right of the bird.
2. The bird’s head angle is bad, but not ideal. I’d prefer a shot where the bird is looking more toward the camera.
3. The exposure is pretty good, but the image as a whole seem overexposed a little , and the white areas seem a little too bright.
And lastly, if it’s possible, I’d prefer a lower angle shot. I understand that at some locations this isn’t always possible, so if that was the case, then there’s nothing you can do about it. Nice reflection!
BAL Land
Well-known member
Exposure wise I would go to something like this:
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KP Birder
Active member
Thanks for your comments! I have wondered if my photos were a bit on the bright side, so I adjusted the light on my MacBook to be a bit brighter. Secondly, I found another shot where the bird is turned slightly more to the camera, but it was a deep crop and the reflection is not quite as nice. I also tried to leave some more area around it. Let me know what you think!
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BAL Land
Well-known member
I would crop that to something like this. Generally you want double the amount of room in front of the bird then behind it.
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One of my favorite waterfowl. And you found a nice specimen. Good suggestions already made above. Though IMO the head angle isn't optimal but ducks typically do well with the head in profile if/when the body is at a slight angle. Biggest issue for me is just the position of the bird. Neither clearly standing nor floating looks a bit odd.
KP Birder
Active member
Dan, the water was very shallow and the bird seemed to be walking in it more than floating, so that may account for the odd look to its position.
Yes I understood that from the photo. My point is that some shots will never look great and nothing we can do about it. I think the old saying is "trying to make a purse from a sow's ear". But we take what they offer and it's all good practice.
I think, if you check in your software program, that you have blown the highlights on the duck's neck. When you blow a highlight and try to take down whites or highlights too much the blown area simply turns gray, as in your photo. I use LrC and I'll often run the cursor over a white area that I think may be blown out to see what the numbers are, this is a good practice to do if there are large areas of white in an image. I know someone else actually adjusted your whites but they may not have realized that the area was blown out. I've attached your image with an arrow regarding the area I am referring to. Their adjustment showed the blownout area. This often happens when shooting birds with white if the exposure is not set for the white area.
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KP Birder
Active member
Thank you for your comments. Yes, I can see that the white area is blown and I did over-expose by half a stop or so…just too excited to finally get a close-up of this duck which is not common in my area! Live and learn!