Pair of Shovelers at Holbrook Reservoir, CO

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
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dcampbell-shovelers-holbrook-res-2024.jpg
dcampbell-shovelers-holbrook-res-2024.jpg986×1300 205 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I went to the CO Field Ornithologists convention in Lamar, CO and spent three days in field trips. I love shooting ducks, my favorite bird subject and was so happy to get a number of really sharp shots of a big group of shovelers. This is a narrow crop from on of them.

Specific Feedback

Unsure about the cropping - there were many shovelers in this shot and I picked two that looked good together.

Technical Details

Fuji X-H2S, 1/2000s, f/8.0, ISO 1000, 600mm handheld in lots of wind.

Processed in Lightroom, RAW conversion in DXO PureRaw, a little bit of sharpening in Topaz Sharpen AI.

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1 Like
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Fabulous detail and nice exposure and colors. I love that you got two in the frame for comparison. The comp works well too, Debbie. Nice work.

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@Max_Waugh Thank you! I was pretty happy with this, I should be able to get a number of good compositions from the couple of frames that turned out very sharp.

1 Like
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Beautiful , Debbie. The banking angle really shows off the plumage wonderfully. The detail looks excellent and I like the composition. At first I was hesitant about the reflection of just the tip of the wing, but it does sow how close to the water they were.

1 Like
5

Really great in flight shot of these two shoveler ducks Debbie. The colors are really nice. Great angles of the wings and really nice details.

1 Like
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@Dennis_Plank Thank you - the reflection was cut off just below this and I didn’t think it added much.

@Ed_Williams Thanks! I was really happy to find this shot when I started culling.

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Debbie: You captured the in flight birds very well and the detail and coloration of their feathers is excellent.

1 Like
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Excellent. Really like the wing position on the male, showing the colors so well. I think the wing refection adds to the image, giving the viewer a sense of their position relative to the water. I could see possibly adding a bit of canvas on the right

1 Like
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@Allen_Brooks thank you! There are more ducks just to the right of where I cropped this, and I didn’t want to cut off their heads… I could edit them out though.

@Richard_Sandor thank you!