Bufflehead.

[Karl Egressy]

I took this picture very late during the day. The water was lit in patches as the sun went behind trees.
This is a full frame image, the way it came out of the camera.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 1D MIV
Canon 500 + 1.4
ISO 800
f7.1
1/800 sec
fill flash

[gail bisson]

Hi Karl,
Lovely little guy.
I think something has gone wonky with your PP.
The head specifically looks off- I don't know how to describe what I see but the details look ? oversharpened or flashed?
I really like the iridescence and the way the tail is so visible. The whites and blacks of body look great.
I might tone down the catchlight as it seems very large.
Perhaps someone else can chime in on what I am seeing in the head that puts me off... I'm not very helpful am I?!!
gail

[Melissa Groo]

Your exposure is wonderful and the iridescence of the head colors is super.I see what Gail means, and at Least on my iPad I am seeing a sharpening halo, or some kind of halo, all around the bird. The upper part of the eye also looks a little cloudy.

[Don Nelson]

I agree - I see the halo around the bird.
One more thought - you have more detail in the whites on the head, particularly towards the eyes - you can recover these with Nik SW or a light linear burn (masked of course).
I like the pose and the water droplets on the head.

[Karl Egressy]

Thank you all.
Here is the jpeg version of the original shot, nothing was done to it.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colors.

[vishaljadhav]

Karl,
I like the repost, it does corrects the things i think gail was pointing to above
in terms of the eye, the eye is toned down, i may have only toned down the catch light and not full eye
Guess we all have our preferences on our presentation

[Shawn Zierman]

Dramatic difference between the looks of the repost and the OP. The OP almost looks like an HDR
image in comparison imo. Sweet full frame composition and a nice angle of view to show the tail
of the duck, that is typically not shown in lower angled shots of this species.

[Karl Egressy]

Dramatic difference between the looks of the repost and the OP. The OP almost looks like an HDR
image in comparison imo. Sweet full frame composition and a nice angle of view to show the tail
of the duck, that is typically not shown in lower angled shots of this species.

Thanks, Shawn.
the dramatic difference is the use of highlight/shadow tool that I normally use at a low number usually less than ten. On this image I applied a higher number at about twenty five, to bring out the beautiful colours of the head. I actually like this shot the way it is processed. I find the original dark and flat.

[Melissa Groo]

Karl, just saw this on NSN and it looks perfect. Something must have gone wonky in the uploading of it here.

[P-A. Fortin]

It is not the same image on NSN. Different head angle.

[Karl Egressy]

Karl, just saw this on NSN and it looks perfect. Something must have gone wonky in the uploading of it here.
Thanks Melissa.
The one on NSN is slightly different.
Same duck, same time frame, same PP. technics but it has a different head angle and a slight crop.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karl, I thought I would share my version where I have masked the iridescence on the head ( repost ) and ran a screen blending mode at 60%. I could have gone higher with the opacity, but left it at 60%. I also neatend the eye and catchlight.

I like your low angle of capture, and that the tail is visible on top of the water.

[Karl Egressy]

Hi Karl, I thought I would share my version where I have masked the iridescence on the head ( repost ) and ran a screen blending mode at 60%. I could have gone higher with the opacity, but left it at 60%. I also neated the eye and catchlight.

I like your low angle of capture, and that the tail is visible on top of the water.
Thanks Stuart. It looks pretty good.
Unfortunately I don't have the sceen blending mode tool or if I do I don't know the location of it.
I use Adobe Photoshop CS5.

[David Salem]

I like the OP myself. The sheen looks great and when they turn that exact right way, they look like this. I would cleanup and resize the catchlight though. Well done