Female Wood Duck

[dankearl]

1/320, f5, iso1600, 500mm (300 w/ 1.7), D800, HH

DSC_2536bpn2.jpg

(http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=119980&stc=1&d=1351002368)


<iframe width="468" height="60" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://mer54715.datafeedfile.com/widget/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=10536&aff_net=1&widget_num=1711"><p>Sorry your browser does not support iFrame</p></iframe>

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Dan! I like the water texture, colours, HA, sharpness and composition. Maybe a little more room behind the Duck.

[Mike Milicia]

Nice comp and pose ... and absolutely gorgeous water!
Could maybe use a bit more contrast.

[Bill Jobes]

Nice work with this beauty, Dan. The light is gorgeous. The red leaves reflecting on the water's surface are an unexpected treat.

I'm OK with the comp, but find myself wondering how it would look with just a tiny bit more color saturation, especially on the bird.

[Cheryl Flory]

Agree, this is a wonderful image of the duck, and the water really adds to the image. I might try increasing the blacks in the water to make the reflection stand out more. And maybe see if the extra black would help the large feathers on the back only. I don't see any details in the whites, but that could be my monitor.

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
Love the colors, very nice pose, great texture on the water, and nice comp.
I agree on bumping up the contrast.
Well done.

[Jon Rista]

Beautiful. I like the pink on the background reflections. Kind of fits the gender. ;) Her detail is great, color is good. I do agree it needs a boost to contrast...it just lacks that "pop" that I think would really do the photo justice.

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

The hen is extremely sharp with nice detail. Lovely water colors. I will take the opposite tack from most, and say that the water color plays well with her softer colors and I prefer the contrast level you have chosen.

The eye patch on the hens is very difficult to show any detail in, without really underexposing the rest of the duck. I will often do a double conversion on them, one for the bulk of the body, one just for the eye patch, and then combine them.

Yes, a bit tight on the right.

cheers

Randy

[David Salem]

I think the hen looks better than the drake in front of this BG. Not very often I would chose a hen wood duck over a drake:S3:. I like the contrast level as is also. The blue in the wing shows nicely.
The white in the eye is hard to handle without underexposing the body as Randy stated. And the duck is exposed very well. Nice work.

[Satish Ranadive]

Every thing has been said about this excellent image.Love the great sharpness and nice details,beautiful water and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Shawn Zierman]

Water texture is sublime! Lovely sharp details on the hen...great light quality!
Consider cropping a bit off the top of the frame, and (hopefully you have it)...
adding a bit more space behind the subject as previously mentioned, and in my opinion,
you would be close to perfection. Really sweet image sir!