bufflehead # 3

[Enrique Patino]

man these guys are bright... I was belly down at a local pond when this guy came in. I waited as he watched me. He was attracted by the shutter noise as I was taking a few shots. When really close (beyond focusing range), it got spooked and flew off. This image was taken as it was coming towards me. light was bright... hope you like it.

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comments and suggestions welcome

7D, 700mm @ f/8, 1/4000, ISO 400

[Ian Cassell]

Wow, Enrique, I love this. I struggled with these guys at Bosque in December and didn't come away with a single one I was happy with (I either burnt out the whites or underexposed the head). You really picked up that irridescence here.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Wow, what a beautiful bird! Never seen one of these before. I can see that you've battled with the whites but the colors are beautiful. It might be worthwhile to play with highlights and mid tones in pp to try and bring in a little bit of contrast in the whites, but to me it's beautiful as is. Beautiful BG and eye contact! Well done!

[Enrique Patino]

Wow, what a beautiful bird! Never seen one of these before. I can see that you've battled with the whites but the colors are beautiful. It might be worthwhile to play with highlights and mid tones in pp to try and bring in a little bit of contrast in the whites, but to me it's beautiful as is. Beautiful BG and eye contact! Well done!

yeah, you are tight Tobie. I reprocessed this image from RAW + added a color balance layer (more blue)... what you think?

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[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I reprocessed this image from RAW + added a color balance layer (more blue)... what you think?

You definitely have more definition in the white parts now (I can hear Rachel saying 'You have a blue cast...' :w3). Just be careful of the blue tint as on the back of its head. It was there in the OP too, but not so prominent.

[Greg Oakley]

Excellent image of a spekky duck! Well exposed whites and nice details. The reflection is a bouns!

[Randall Farhy]

Simply gorgeous, love the iridescent colors! The RP is close, just be careful of the "glowing greys" occurring on the body beneath the head and forward of the wing. Perhaps local brush work to adjust shadows/highlights? Also, personal preference-I'd go extreme pano and remove most of the reflection-it's blurry to the point of distraction. Is there any room above? Another locally skittish species I'd have to borrow from NASA's inventory to capture like this.

[Iain Barker]

Wow the colours you have on the head are great. I think the blue tint at the back of the head is CA which you may be able to adjust on your RAW file.

[Enrique Patino]

Blue cast..yes, i added blue in a CA layer, but removed it from the white areas using a saturation layer... but I posted the wrong one... that is what happens when I do things late at night... thanks for your input

[Rob Melone]

Really nice work Enrique on this tough little guy to expose properly! Nice low angle, eye contact and color capture. The background is pleasing as well.

[Bill Dix]

Man o man, I don't think I've ever seen a Buffie image that shows the head colors better than this.

[Karl Egressy]

Love the pose and colors. Well done, Enrique.

[Arthur Morris]

2nd repost is better but I believe that this already outstanding image could be improved significantly. It is too bright and too saturated. And it absolutely needs some CCW rotation--check out the angle of the eye highlight etched across the reflection of the head....

I did lots to come up with this repost--details upon request :).

[Arthur Morris]

ps: In retrospect, I may have reduced the contrast a bit too much and I missed a bit in the upper right when I filled in the canvas after rotation...

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful and colorful image.

[Enrique Patino]

Thanks for your input. Will follow up when I get back from my trip



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[Enrique Patino]

Artie, I would very much like to know the details if you have time, or when you have time. Thanks!