Did you post both versions on the Flickr site? I did not see them, so I don't have a reference point anymore. On that note, honestly, I am not the best post processor on the planet. There are some things you can do in post...actually, some folks are rather amazing at it. I just don't have the patience to sit and learn. I like spending my time with the camera.

In answer to what makes a photo - it really depends on what you are trying to create. Sometimes, all you can make is a documentary photograph. Getting too close to wildlife can be dangerous (to them, typically).

Right now, my pet project for wildlife photography is to make the wildlife part of the scene, but not "the scene." LOL, that can be really difficult, particularly when there is a big beautiful bull in the frame. However, that is the direction I am TRYING to move. i.e. I want to create landscape compositions that show wildlife doing what they do naturally. The problem with a head shot in the wide is the same with one in a zoo. You have no idea where it is being taken. It is one of the things I like about the duckling photos you shared, as a matter of fact. The idea that the ducklings are doing what they are doing and we are seeing a larger image. It is just a matter of isolating some of the distracting elements.


If you haven't post those muskrats! I love seeing critters I don't typically get to see every day - particularly here in the city. :P