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I'm still fairly new to dslr's so hoping for some feedback of this recent pic I snapped at the lake a few weeks ago.

Nikon D60
f/5.6
1/60 exposure
ISO200

Really nice. The tranquil colours work really well. I wonder what it would like heavily cropped just to the front swan plus a little bit of the grass for perspective.

Hi Manaen & Welcome.
First up, the photo is a little large. (See the forum rules at the top of the page) It should be resized as some memebers still work with dial up connections, & this would take FOREVER to load. (Hurry up with universal broadband Mr Rudd!!!)

I like the composition as is, but find it somewhat over exposed. The top section is distracting in its brightness, and detail is lost.
If you took a RAW (NEF) photo, you may be able to claw back some detail in the badly over bright section at the top of the picture.

Greg's comments about exposure are correct, but in looking at the image, over-exposure is not quite what I expected. How did you manage the exposure for this image? I have a reason for asking, but I will defer posting my thoughts on the exposure until I have a better understanding of how this was done.

Regarding composition, I have a couple of thoughts. My first thought is similar to what has already been suggested: crop the second bird (in the background) out of the image. I was thinking in terms of a square crop initially, but in so doing, I then noticed the reflection of the swan's neck at the bottom of the image.

I accept that within the constraints under which the image was captured, you may not have been able to capture the reflection of the full neck and head of the swan, and if that's case, well, ok ...

But if that had've been a possibility ......

Just a thought for you to consider.

Unfortunately it was just a random snap while taking some family photos.

Is this better as a cropped version (or is it too cropped?)

It was a sunny day which is why I think the top section is overexposed (or is it just the sunlight reflecting?)

gstark wrote:How did you manage the exposure for this image? I have a reason for asking, but I will defer posting my thoughts on the exposure until I have a better understanding of how this was done.

Manaen wrote:Unfortunately it was just a random snap while taking some family photos.

Ok, so the camera has just managed the exposure itself. I do believe that the bright area towards the top is mainly reflective, and I don't think that it's really contributed too much in terms of the overall exposure here. My reason for saying this is that had this contributed to the exposure, the camera would try to set the exposure darker in order to compensate for what it might read as a larger bright area within the image.

Given that scenario, I think that a circular polariser might have been of use to you, as that could have helped to reduce or eliminate the reflection that we're seeing.

Given that scenario, I think that a circular polariser might have been of use to you, as that could have helped to reduce or eliminate the reflection that we're seeing.

Yep, but it would have also reduces or eliminated the reflection of the swan's neck, which is a nice part of the composition.