And Then There's the Wood Duck Drake..

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D4
500mm
Gitzo 3530LS/full Wimberley

1/800 sec
ISO 400
f/5.0

The counterpart to the hen I posted the other day. From Studebaker's workshop last Oct in Ohio. I like this for the red color that is only on the water, with the gold color behind. I have some images that are almost entirely red and it's almost too much.
Wondering if the water droplets on the black plumage are distracting.
Thanks in advance for all comments and critiques.

[Sanjeevprakash]

Nice shot.Awesome colors and Love those Red eyes.TFS

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Melissa - the colors from the bg really compliment the colors on the duck! Really like the comp and detail throughout.

[dankearl]

Beautiful.
I wish it was angled just a bit toward the camera, but a very small nitpick.
Colors are just great.

[Randy Stout]

Melissa:

Handsome drake, interesting water colors, sharp, drops OK.

The whites are a bit grey for my taste, but I know it is a balancing act on these guys.

Cheers

Randy

[Marina Scarr]

Stunning portrait, Melissa, with such vibrant colors. Exposure looks good and specs on back are not in the least distracting to me.

[nrohrbacker]

Beautiful color! BG blends well. I like this a lot.

[Dan Behm]

Melissa,
A wonderfully composed image, with excellent low POV, often difficult at this location, you put yourself in a great situation and made the best of it.

The BG Colors are complementary of the drakes plumage and bodes well in creating this striking image, Another point is the exposure and capture of all the colors throughout. excellent Job... You headed up this Fall to shoot these guts again, B great to see you again!

[Dan Behm]

Melissa,
A wonderfully composed image, with excellent low POV, often difficult at this location, you put yourself in a great situation and made the best of it.

The BG Colors are complementary of the drakes plumage and bodes well in creating this striking image, Another point is the exposure and capture of all the colors throughout. excellent Job... You headed up this Fall to shoot these guts again, Be great to see you again!

[Satish Ranadive]

Gorgeous image of handsome and beautifully colored bird.Extremely beautiful and just perfect in every pixel.
Water droplets on back are not at all distracting.Love the great details,sharpness,colors and above all red and golden reflection. TFS.

Regards,
Satish.

[gail bisson]

Really lovely Melissa.
No issues with water specs for me.
Nice low POV and colors are to die for!
Gail

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Marina stole the word Stunning right from my mouth. Exceelnt image and great post processing.

[Rachel Hollander]

Melissa - this is fantastic. The colors of bg and duck are great and so is the detail and pov. No problem at all with the water droplets.

TFS,
Rachel

[Richard Mc Donald]

Come on Melissa, fess up, you've created this entire duck from the ground up in Photoshop! :

The colours on these Wood Ducks blow me away, your presentation the same, well done.

Richard

[Frank Schauf]

Perfect comp and bg, nice work, Melissa.

[Shawn Zierman]

You have done this location and the species justice with this lovely image.
Super deluxe in all regards.

[Robert Holguin]

Beautiful shot. Excellent low angle, love the water color, and great details.
Very well done.

[Ignacio Yufera]

What a feast for the eyes! Beautiful image.

[Bill Dix]

Just gorgeous in every way Melissa. Colors on water and bird are stunning, and you've exposed it to show the iridescence to perfection. You really came away from that workshop with some masterful images.

[Josh Clark]

Outstanding work Melissa! Love the beautiful water color and spot on exposure of the drake. Perfect IMO.

[Karl Egressy]

Great colours, perfect composition and a beauty duck, Melissa.

[arash_hazeghi]

awesome colors Melissa! love the low angle and details too.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Sweeeeeet! Great colors/pose and BG!

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks to all for your kind comments.