p.1 #2 · America Avocet and chics + Add some more pictures
Wonderful! The composition of the second, with its use of repetition is beyond extraordinary! But all those gray blotches have to go. Once you take care of that, it belongs hanging in a museum.
p.1 #8 · America Avocet and chics + Add some more pictures
This is a lovely set, Philip; rich warm colors, great detail, and engaging subjects!
Some people like reflections, some don't; for this set, I think they work well in some but would consider cropping them out for some others. Specific comments:
1) Maybe try a tighter crop to remove the bottom third, and a bit from the right. This one is all about the interaction, and I think less bg and more bird will increase impact.
2) I like the reflection here. As others have said, some work in post to clean up the bg blobs will help; you might also consider a gradient burn on the bottom half, and cutting back a bit on the bright area for the right hand subject.
3) Like (1). Maybe try a vertical crop?
All in all, a wonderful series; breeding plumage and chicks and interactions, who could ask for more!
p.1 #12 · America Avocet and chics + Add some more pictures
Excellent images. I agree that the blotches detract from the otherwise magnificent #2. I think your use of crop/composition in your first image is very nice. Tighter would certainly work, also; but it's really a stellar image as is.
p.1 #18 · America Avocet and chics + Add some more pictures
All are very nice, and the chicks sure are cute. Just to add a few words about the crop. I agree with others about a tighter crop. The reason is that the shots are not "reflection' shots, so the partial reflection doesn't add anything to the shots ~ Ron
p.1 #19 · America Avocet and chics + Add some more pictures
Great set overall. I would crop out some of the reflection in 1 and 3. Reflection works well in 2. Also cloning out some of the grey circles and other distractions would take these photos to the state of art work.
