Swan and Seagul

Not real happy with the swan this is with a rented lens Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM on a 60D
Took this the other night slight crop
100mm 1/250 f8 ISO 250 off tripod maybe 25 feet away

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

You need to set your white point on the seagull photo and you would have a great shot...the diagonal shore line helps this shot.
I would pitch the other peeking swan.....there is just not enough.

+1 for ditching the swan shot. Looks like your focus actually hit the post next to him.

I like the seagull shot, but feel like the negative space should be on the other side of him. (so he is looking into it)

Thanks didn't really like the swan shot
Redid the gull shot it does look better this way

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

Better...proves the rule of thirds does work but could still use some post edit tweaking as suggested....contrast is a bit low.

Seagull looks a bit front focused to anyone else?

Your seagul is quite soft compared to the swan photograph. I like your crop, although I think the swan may be able to get a tad bit tighter as there is a bit more information than needed throughout the frame.

As per Spike44's edit. A bit too much sharpening and processing(look at the right side of the body, you get dark halo's evidence of oversharpening).

Here are some edits you may find useful. Let me know what you think.
1.

Thanks I do like the swan with the tighter crop. I like the seagull it looks a lot crisper than mine what did you do I would like to try it on the one with the crop with the bird looking left. I liked spike44s edit but it did seem a bit oer sharpened to me but still looked good.I just got Elements10 and I am still learning to use it. I had issues with these 2 lens all I seemed to get were soft pictures.
Thanks again
John

JM, congrats on your newly acquired software. Just be very cognisant of the lights and darks. Dodging and burning and localized processing are key. If you sharpen the WHOLE photograph it does not necessarily make it "sharp" it can heighten your ISO which would obviously result in something different if you were attempting to get a crisp, clea photograph like these. Both lens' shouldn't shoot that soft but I feel I've seen a bit of the 18-135 and have seen many poor results. What focusing technique are you using? Ai Servo, One Shot, ... I forget the last one...I usually do servo or one shot.