Lone White Bird

[Mr. Clipit]

Ok, I shot this early this morning at Camp Pouch (same place I shot those trees across the lake) - there was about 100 black birds sitting on the ice, along with a single white bird. This shot was taken at 1/13 second with a 12x zoom at F/4.0 (I think the sharpness is really a great testament to the quality of the FZ8's image stabilization). The original shot was a bit blown out, but that was no problem fixing since I made the shot raw. I stamped out a few black birds crowding around the white one, which I think cleaned the shot up a bit (as well as giving it some segregationist undertones?), and I also flipped it left to right, which I think put the focus on the white bird more. I know I'm only supposed to post one image at a time, so heres a link to the original before clone stamping and flipping. So, my main questions are: is the shot better or worse for the clone stamping and trimming, and should the shot be cropped closer, although I'm sure theres other problems that haven't crossed my mind. Love to hear everyone's suggestions. Thanks!

[FrankenPengie]

I think the editing did add some interest to the shot. I would lighten up the lone bird as almost had to look for it. My first thought when I opened the post was, 'what white bird?' I also agree to a lower crop at the top.

[Mr. Clipit]

alright, ill get on brightening up that bird. Any other suggestions?

[Amira]

The bird seems slightly out of focus when I opened the shot on your flickr page. Maybe next time try using a tripod to really make the shot crisp? I also agree that the bird does blend in with the light reflecting off the water and am excited to see your edit to brighten the bird. I think that would definitely improve the shot.

[Mr. Clipit]

I replaced the photo on Flicrk and edited the new link into my post. improved? or is a closer crop called for?