Honk Honk

[jeeperman]

The light was nice for a second this evening. I was able to make this capture but am unsure whether or not to crop. I kinda like it both ways....so.....I ask the....
C&C surely welcome

[Bobobird]

Indeed lovely light.

The wide crop looks good but seems to lack a base. Perhaps leave in more of the bottom?

[jeeperman]

Thanks Bobo, I was going to change it and just had not got to it yet, I had cropped it at 2x1 but I tried 16x9 and like it much better. Will post that below.

[dje]

Very good in-flight capture Paul. There's probably nothing much you can do about it but it would be nice if the light reflecting off the water was not so similar in colour to the ducks.

Dave

[jeeperman]

Dave thank you, I am torn...I do see that they could stand out a little more but the late low winter light carry's a great color and is cast on both Geese, trees and water. If I change one the feel fades. They just happened into that one spot with the same color leafs still on the trees.

[dje]

Dave thank you, I am torn...I do see that they could stand out a little more but the late low winter light carry's a great color and is cast on both Geese, trees and water. If I change one the feel fades. They just happened into that one spot with the same color leafs still on the trees.

I understand Paul. It is nice light

Dave

[warrenjwalker]

Paul,

This is a wonderful shot. I like the 16x9 crop best. The uncropped one seemed to have too much background in my oppinion, and the second crop didn't have enough.

- Jacob

[Donald]

It's the texture that's captured on the surface of the water that works wonderfully for me. Having once tried to photograph geese in their over-wintering grounds, I appreciate how hard it is top get a good image like this. I, too, like the 16:9.

[ucci]

Great shot. Just a suggestion. How about a bold approach to increase contrasts between birds, reflections and background. Had a play and hope you don't mind. Of course in doing what I have done I might be 'on the wrong tram.' as they say. I also prefer not to crop too much of background, keeping the overall ambiance of the ducks flying over a largish expanse of water with interesting colours. But this all a MOOT point ( MOOT as in My Opinion only totally)

[jeeperman]

Thank you Jacob, Donald and Ken.

Ken, no moot points here Actually I do like just a bit more contrast although maybe not quite as far as you have gone, I want to preserve the detail I have achieved. I also understand your feel on the crop but I do still like the 16x9 best. Thank you.

[AB26]

Hi Paul,
No 1 seems fine, I think birds need space to fly.

[Bobobird]

Yup, the 16x9 does it. The bottom is properly anchored, there is abit more of the reflection - nothing more needed imho.

Ken's alternative is good and makes the birds a bit more 3d'ish though the water and the reflections could be down-contrasted somewhat. Nice job Ken.

[terrib]

It's a great shot. I agree with Donald about the texture of the water being special. The color is great. I also like the 16x9 crop best.

[jeeperman]

Thank you for taking a look and the comments, Andre, Bobo and Terri.

Andre, the needing room to fly is part of the reason I like the 16x9 over the first as the is just a bit more space infront of the Geese. The first was a very slight crop off the top and left. the 16x9 gave me back the area on the left.

[Steve S]

Hi paul, i like the image and the crop, but the saturation levels are a little over the top. A touch more sharpening and a little separation between the geese and background couldn't hurt either. There is also a slight green cast that can be corrected with a little magenta. A very nice image, which can be improved with a little more editing.

Sorry for all the negative comments, just trying to give back some honest feedback.

[jeeperman]

Hi Steve and thanks for jumping in. The sharpness is something that has been bugging me for a bit now. I love LR4 but every since I started using it I can not get things quite as sharp as I did in Gimp. I may have to do my sharpening there but I need to play with LR a little more.

As for the saturation, funny it is over the top because no saturation was added. I however did not catch the green cast and will check it out.

Thank you, this is the kind of feedback one needs to improve and even then we still miss a thing or two now and then.

[FrankMi]

Hi Paul, overall, this is a remarkable image as it stands. Although there are a number of options available with this image, the one that I don't think has been mentioned is the headless goose in the second position. Because I play with Photoshop a bit, I would be sorely tempted to back that goose up by a 'head'. The only real issue is that you would need to back up its reflection as well.

[Steve S]

Hi Steve and thanks for jumping in. The sharpness is something that has been bugging me for a bit now. I love LR4 but every since I started using it I can not get things quite as sharp as I did in Gimp. I may have to do my sharpening there but I need to play with LR a little more.

As for the saturation, funny it is over the top because no saturation was added. I however did not catch the green cast and will check it out.

Thank you, this is the kind of feedback one needs to improve and even then we still miss a thing or two now and then.

My apologies about the saturation, it looked like you cranked it up a little.

Most of the sugestions i made would be hard to do in LR. You really need to work in layers to do those things.

[jeeperman]

No apologies needed Steve, it was a valid mention. I can do most of what you mentioned in LR but what I can not I could do in Gimp. The sharpening is the biggest bummer. I will get it worked out.

Frank, I wondered who would be the one to catch/mention that. I suppose I could move his head to this side of the wing. However I have never really liked to alter things in that way. Maybe I should start thinking differently but I am not quite there yet. I am sure I will have more opportunities.

[jeeperman]

Steve, it is I whom need apologize.....I took another look, while I did not bump overall saturation....I used a small set of peramiters that I had put together earlier and it slightly bumped two colors. Funny thing is while I shoot raw....my cameras jpeg view is saturated even more than mine. lol