Canon EOS 700D
EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
1/1250th, f/10, ISO 800, 400mm
Photo taken at Long Run Park in Eastern Jefferson Co, Kentucky. Intention was to have Wood Ducks in foreground sharp and ducks behind on ice blurred.
Thanks for looking and critiquing!
Hi Jim. I really like the pair of Wood Ducks in the water. The poses of the background ducks on the ice and the fact that they’re so out of focus, to me removes any association with the two main subjects and I think they distract rather than add to the composition, so I think you might want to recrop this a lot tighter with the top just under the mallard’s feet or maybe a touch higher with some cloning to remove it and enough of the bottom to balance the composition. In the larger image I think I’m seeing some cloning artifacts where you removed some foreground ducks that you might want to clean up, but I wouldn’t bother until you see what’s left after a different crop.
The male woodie in particular looks excellent.
Thanks dennis! I think I see the artifacts. I’ll look it over in the morning and repost. Again, my thanks sir.
Hi Jim, I like the sharpness you got on the wood ducks and the water in front looks nice too. I have mixed feelings about the ducks in the rear and I’m afraid cropping them out would reduce image quality to an extreme on the image overall. I’d be tempted to try more of a horizontal composition with the top ducks cropped out and a lot more room in front and maybe some behind the woodies.
Woodies in the foreground look very good. But I agree that the ducks in the BG distract rather than add. I also see lots of cloning artifacts in the foreground. I like Allen’s crop suggestion.
