Ducks

A couple of shots from today. One is just cropped a little, the other is an out-and-out digital manipulation. Haven't been shooting much lately, it was nice to get out. I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions on both.

Thanks,

Phil G.

Really good captures. I'm hoping to do as well.

Good shots. The female from nearly behind is an unusual capture. - TF

I like them both. The 2nd one is my favourite out of the two! well done. The first one is a bit too tight imo.

And mostly I like the tight crops. For me, the first one would have been perfect if you had the tips of the feathers. Nevertheless, both are beautiful. What lens did you use?

Thanks for the comments everyone. Shebang, I used a Nikon 70-300 on a Nikon D70s. body. I was actually pretty close when I took these.

Phil G.

I was pleasantly surprised to open this thread. It would take some pretty good photos of ducks to impress, and these are. The first is suffering from the wing tips being cut off, as another mentioned. That is important here and i do feel it hurts the shot. Would have been quite great, although still is cool nonetheless.
The second is really fine. Great positioning of the birds and a good moment captured. The sharpness is there and the dof is good. I think you could have opened the crop up a bit more on this one at the top and the right, but it's ok.
Fine Duck shots here. Have you posted these in the Nature forum?

I agree with Gary these are really good. I wish there was a touch of separation between the two ducks in the second shot, but the sharpness and colors are awesome. Nice work.

Awesome shots, Phoebe! They look HDR'd. Are they?

Sorry to be so long getting back your comments. Wow thanks for the honor!

I have not posted these anywhere else, I typically don't stray far from this forum. Once in a while over to one of the help related forums. Valid point about the tight crop, I could back off some.

They are not HDR, they kinda have that look though. I punched up the saturation a bit pp.

I like this photo myself and I think what does it for me is the sharpness in the females eye. Lucky catch.

Thanks,

Phil G.

I agree with the above and like Gary, it takes a bit to impress me with a duck shot because they are so common. That first shot is a 'if only' because yeah the cut off wings hurts it.
Nice stuff though and maybe you can bribe those ducks.

This is simply a great shot. The only thing that I suggest is if maybe the back bird was a bit more in focus. But some may prefer it the exact way it is, which increases the feeling of dimensionality.

G

Wonderful, maybe a bit more light on the first to bring out more detail, then it might also be my screen. Well deserving of a sticky, congrats. Shootme