"Water, water everywhere"

[Digital]

C&C welcomed.
Bruce

[Urbanflyer]

Ducks are fun to photograph..and usually easy to find common varieties.

I see a couple of things I would suggest you consider:

1. so much of the photo is in the middle range of your histogram. Using Clarity to provide more differentiation in the mid tones as well as checking the black point and white point will possibly give this photo more pep. And perhaps a small adjustment to reduce the exposure.

2. Composition thought--when you click to see this in lightbox, move it so that the duck is in the upper left third. Does that make it feel that the duck has a place to go ? Is it more interesting than the placement of the original?

Composition is really personal so my thoughts may only be mine and may not resonate with you, but try it so you can think about it!

Keep on posting!

[MrB]

Perhaps consider reducing the glare from the water as well as enhancing the plumage of the duck. These might have been achieved by using a polarising filter on the camera lens (but I'm not sure as I've not yet used one of these). Alternatively, make use of any image software that allows different parts of the image to be selected, so that the water and the bird can be adjusted separately. If it were my image, I would make adjustments to the brightness and contrast of the water, and enhance the shadow areas and clarity of the duck.

Cheers.
Philip

E.g. Using PaintShop Pro -

[Geoff F]

I would crop a fraction from the top, Bruce, and have a different size ratio. So the duck isn't quite so vertically central.

Yes, maybe darken the blacks a little, but don't overdo it, just a little.

[Digital]

[Rufus]

Post #5 is an unusual composition with the tail close in to the corner, but I find it works rather well and guides the eye to concentrate on the duck's head, especially the eye (with a nice catchlight from a reflection perhaps?) and the beak.

The definition of the colours and textures in the feathers are now very good, too.

David

[Wavelength]

I too liked the cropped image more

[Digital]

Nandakumar, thank you for commenting.


Bruce