Whistling Duck

[Richard Mc Donald]

Within seconds of the call her partner landed.

122455

1DX/800L
ISO 400
f/5.6
1/800
+1/3 EV

Richard


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[Henry Domke]

A fresh duck portrait! I love the way the head is pointing up. The background has a nice dreamy quality to it.
The blacks don't seem black enough and the image lacks contrast. The upper part of the neck has a hot spot and calls out for highlight recovery.

[gail bisson]

Hi Richard,
I like the blur treatment you did on the BG.Has a painterley feel to it.
Nice calling pose and good light.
Do you have more room at the bottom? The foot is very close to the edge. This would look nice as a vertical as well.
I like the soft, dreamy quality but would add a couple of points of blacks the the neutrals in selective coloring to add a bit of pop to the bird,
Gail

[Joe Senzatimore]

I too would love to see this as a vertical. I think it would be much stronger. Also needs some room at the bottom , as mentioned.

[Nick Palmieri]

You caught this guy at a great time and in a nice environment. Agree with others regarding adding some black which may improve the contrast. More room at the bottom has mentioned. I also think the entire BG could be darkened a bit and possibly a few rounds of noise reduction. TFS

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Great timing for this shot! I agree with the comments above and would crop some off the left, add a tad to the bottom. A little punch could be added by darkening the blacks a bit. Otherwise, very nicely done!

[Alan Murphy]

Great pose. Wish for more room at the bottom and a vertical crop.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the pose, perch, setting. I agree with the positives and the suggestions already offered.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Nice pose indeed. Some NR on BG, vertical crop and more room below will result in a lot of improvement.

[Dan Busby]

Lovely pose and setting Richard. Agree with more room at bottom and slight increase in contrast.

[Karl Egressy]

Great pose and background. I'm not sure about the choice of the crop, less square like would work better.

[Richard Mc Donald]

Thanks everyone for you comments and sorry to take so long in getting back to the post.

Firstly there is no more room on the bottom of the shot, as is I was stretched as far upright as possible from a crouched position to try and get above the reeds that also led to the other problem with the shot and that being the ducks feet being not well defined and lacking in true colour because I had to shoot through them. I should have mentioned this in the original post.

I've just given myself an uppercut for the noise in the shot, why I missed it is beyond me.

My many thanks again for your as always constructive input.

Richard