Sue, the cinnamon hue of these teal’s feathers (I believe that’s what they are) beautifully complements the green tones of the water. You’ve captured the catch light in their red eyes. Very nice. I might consider cropping the right side of the image. This allows “space for them to swim” towards the left. A composition that provides space in the direction of the subject’s implied movement doesn’t feel as crowded. Thanks for sharing this couple with us.
Hi Sue. Another vote for cropping a bit from the right. I did a couple of other things as well: I leveled the image by using the level feature in the PS cropping tool and using what should be a vertical line between the eye of the leading bird and the same point in its reflection. I also moved them a little higher in the frame which provides the illusion that you were closer to the same level as the birds. Note: I had to use a little content aware fill on the bottom to do this. This helps create more of a sense of intimacy with them. The opposite works if you have to shoot up at the birds-move them a little lower in the frame. Here’s what I came up with.
A nice capture but @Dennis_Plank nailed the fix! Leveling is easy by reflections or just by wakes. In LR, activate the crop and as you start to rotate it will sho horizontal/vertical guides, or in PS pull down a guide in PS (from the ruler borders toggled by Ctrl/Cmd R) and rotate the crop.
Very nice image - true colours and sharp detail.
Dennis’s crop works well.
I always try to remember to pull back the zoom a bit to leave enough room for different crops, etc.
thanks diane… I thought I had leveled it but must have been going by the wrong lines. I do use LR classic and use the leveler when cropping, etc. Just need to fine tune it I guess.
Hi Sue. Lines in the water are my last resort for leveling because they can be very confused by wave action. The ellipses from drops or disturbances can work pretty well, particularly if they’re long and narrow, but reflections are usually easier (at least for me).
