Long Tail Duck

[Rachel Hollander]

Another one from this past weekend at Barnegat Jetty. This was in the last hour before sunset.

Canon 5D3
300 II + 2x III
1/5000
f6.3
ISO 800
HH from rocks, cropped for comp, levels, curves, selective color, dodging and burning, NR on bg and sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[dankearl]

Rachel,
Nice and sharp and well exposed.
I would crop off the bottom all the way to the reflection if it were mine and take some off the left behind the duck.
This doesn't look like a big crop so the 5D3 image should easily be cropped tighter.

[Colin Gilyeat]

Rachele, very nice, the exposure looks good, and the whites are nice. I like the little bit of reflection of the head and beak. The only thing mising is the tail being more visible, otherwise great pose with a good HA.

Colin

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Dan and Colin, much appreciate the comments and suggestions. Dan - the tail is almost to the left edge so I don't want to crop more from the left. Yes, Colin, for some reason this one didn't really display his tail at all.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
Exposure is spot on, I really like the water drops, and nice details.
Well done.

[Mike Milicia]

Great light and pose with excellent exposure ... another nice one!
I could see taking a bit off the bottom but only to around the top of your signature.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super exposure pose and detail, a very clean image. My only reservation is the angle which I appreciate you could do very little about, but had you been tad lower it think it would have increased impact.

[gail bisson]

Hi Rachel,
The light is lovely and the exposure is spot on!
I do wish you had been a bit lower but realize that isn't possible from the jetty.
I like your comp but would add a touch more room on the left for that long submerged tail,
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Lower would have been nice but of course sometimes it's absolutely impossible. This is a lovely portrait, the light is sweet, and that slight head angle is great. I like the pink bill reflected in the water. Nice work.

[Karl Egressy]

Great light, pose,exposure and perfect HA, Rachel.

[Bill Dix]

Nice one, Rachel. Getting low is one of the problems of shooting at the jetty; but given that, this is a handsome shot. Well exposed, and I love the reflection of the bill. Cropping up from the bottom sounds like a good idea to me. Cropping from the left would, as you say, take off the "virtual tail". I'd even add a smidge to the left.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, love the late light in this, and you have exposed this perfectly. Droplets always add something special, and I do like the choppy sea. If this were mine, I would take a bit off the top to push the duck a little higher in the frame. Seems like you got your monies worth with this species. :w3

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. I very much appreciate all the comments and suggestions (even if some of them are conflicting :bg3:).

Thanks again,
Rachel