critique my pic please: this is a pic of a duck with what looks to me like a mohawk on his head. i have made no edits currently and would like to know what everyone thinks. please feel...

XTENA Loc: HUMBLE, TX

this is a pic of a duck with what looks to me like a mohawk on his head. i have made no edits currently and would like to know what everyone thinks. please feel free to criticize and give advice. i want to learn all i can.

Greg-Colo Loc: Fort Collins,Co

pictures tell a story......take lots of them from different angles to find the one that tells it best. if it is about its mohawk, do a close up of its head.( watch the background...not to be distracting from the story) like anything else the more you do it the better you get. click..click...click...

alaskan

XTENA wrote:

this is a pic of a duck with what looks to me like a mohawk on his head. i have made no edits currently and would like to know what everyone thinks. please feel free to criticize and give advice. i want to learn all i can.

OK,here is an honest opinion: the "mohawk" is the main problem ruining your photo.You cannot crop it out because the head is getting too close to the edge of the frame already.So if you know how you should remove it.Also the lower part of the tail is washed out=overexposed.I enclose a similar photo of a duck from my collection.Good luck.

XTENA Loc: HUMBLE, TX

thanks very much for the advice. i didnt even consider these problems before. now i see the washed out tail, and i will be sure to watch the back ground better in future pics. great advice.thanks to u both :)

alaskan

XTENA wrote:

thanks very much for the advice. i didnt even consider these problems before. now i see the washed out tail, and i will be sure to watch the back ground better in future pics. great advice.thanks to u both :)

You needed the duck to face the other way so the white part would be in the shade.That would even up the high contrast.Yes,background can kill many photos so it is important to pay close attention or to throw it out of focus by a low Fstop and telephoto lens.

XTENA Loc: HUMBLE, TX

here is another. i will post now and check responses tomorrow (i have to be up for work in 3 hours LOL) please let me know ur opinions of this goose

Greg-Colo Loc: Fort Collins,Co

nice shot.... :thumbup:

frank bruce Loc: Albuquerque,N.M

aflac!

XTENA wrote:

here is another. i will post now and check responses tomorrow (i have to be up for work in 3 hours LOL) please let me know ur opinions of this goose

gonate Loc: sacramento,calif

over-all they look good , not outstanding .
take several photos , pick the best ,

Paw Paw Bill Loc: d

The Mallard duck that you shot is a male. Male birds almost always have the greatest color variations and vibrance as compared the the female of the species.

Having the light primarily from the rear hinders the display of his colors that can seem almost irridescent in direct sun. Get him to turn slightly to his left and shoot with the sun behind you and take a slighly larger frame so that you can crop down to the view that you want. You will get a better view of the crest on top of the head as well.

Just ask him to move, hopefully he will cooperate, otherwise you will have to be very patient and wait on him.

The duck that alaskan posted is the female Mallard.

Paw Paw Bill Loc: d

Also, a side veiw is still the best with the Mallard. You will see the crest, but also the tail has feathers that curl up and forward. A side view brings this out as well. These are among the more colorful of the ducks. In humans, it is the female with the beauty, but the birdbrains got it backward and polished up the male.

egglady Loc: Knoxville, Tn

I like these geese. the tree reflection in the water add to the photo. watch where the sun is hitting your subject. sometimes just waiting for them to take a step or two makes all the difference.

JoeV Loc: Wisconsin

XTENA wrote:

this is a pic of a duck with what looks to me like a mohawk on his head. i have made no edits currently and would like to know what everyone thinks. please feel free to criticize and give advice. i want to learn all i can.

I have a few suggestions for you. If you have a photo editing program, you could edit in some grass over the duck's head to get rid of the background distraction. If your program has the option, make the digital "paper" bigger, and edit in some grass at the top of the picture. Then consider cropping the picture to draw attention to the duck's head and eliminate the blown out highlights someone mentioned.