Double-crested Cormorant Taking Off

What technical feedback would you like if any? Any critical feedback.

What artistic feedback would you like if any? Any critical feedback.

Any pertinent technical details: This shot was taken on Pine Mountain Lake, CA with a Nikon D500, Nikon 2-500mm lens with a 1.4 TC handheld at 1/3200th, f.8.0, ISO 3600, focal 550. Cropped to 4099 x 2857 from 5568 x 3712

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

This is a very dynamic frame. Those curved primaries are fantastic. The bird looks sharp, and the quality has held up to the crop pretty well. But the water is awfully bright and colorful. If this were mine, I’d select the water and tone it down, both in exposure and in saturation.

Thanks for your input. I confess that I’m usually a little lazy and I typically massage the whole image and not select areas but you guys have already inspired me to obtain Topaz for working on photos and I’m thinking this file is due for a trip to Topaz to see what I can do about that water.

Hi Dave. As Lyle said, this is very dynamic and these birds are a tough target, especially when they’re taking off. In addition to Lyle’s comments, you might want to add a little canvas on the right side to give the cormorant a bit of room to fly into.