Two is better than One

[hitkaiser]

When I was taking the shot I was worried about the subjects being too far apart, does it work? I have mixed feelings about it

[wulf]

From my perspective, it is not so much the space between them as the fact that the female duck (brown plumage) is so close to the edge of the shot. I think it would be improved if she was just a little further in from the left hand side, balanced with the distance the male duck is from the right.

Wulf

[greer]

I agree with what wulf said above, but I do like that there is two ducks. The two ducks with a wide gap in the middle sort of gives the photo a bit of a story.

Maybe you could try a crop that shows the full male duck but only the back end of the female duck to play up the boy-chasing-girl story of the shot. I'm not sure it would work due to the angle of the female duck, but it's worth a try.

[edited for spelling]

[wulf]

Yes - I think half-a-duck would make for an interesting shot in this case.

Wulf

[hitkaiser]

I really wanted both the heads (and their reflections in), I couldnt avoid the tight crop since it was a shoot or miss the moment thing

[wulf]

What about cropping the other way, so you've got the mallard's head (and reflection) entering the frame on the right as the female duck is just about to swim out?

Wulf

[hitkaiser]

Thanx for the tip, it does look quite interesting, Im usually quite conservative about cropping out subjects, I think it can work quite well here