King Eider Portrait

[gail bisson]

Another image from barrow. I just can't get enough of these handsome fellas. Don't you love the dorsal 'fins"?
A call was used to get the eiders to come over to our side of the pond.
Canon 1Dx
600mm and 1.4x
ISO 800
F 7.1 SS 1/800
~80 % FF. was slightly underexposed so increase exposure by 1/3 of a stop, NR to BG, levels, DE to eider at 4%, USM to JPEG.
I could easily clone out the little grasses but i like them for some reason. Am open to evicting them though.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

They are striking fellows for sure. Sharp, great pose, yes to the cute fins!
I would try the image with and without the twigs. It does add a bit of depth to the image, which I always appreciate.
Just for personal taste, I would also try a version with about 25% off the top.

Look forward to more of these wonderful looking fellows.

Cheers

Randy

[Akshay Charegaonkar]

Nice, sharp image and well exposed, too. I'd the twigs as they are, since they are not too distracting and instead serve to add some depth to the image.

One thing I may consider is to add a little catch light to the eye perhaps?

Regards,
Akshay

[Marina Scarr]

Terrific IQ on this stunning yet odd bird. Lovely pose. I normally love environmental elements to help balance in image. However, in this instance, I am leaning toward removing the twigs as I find them a bit distracting in this case.

[Shawn Zierman]

I like the subject placement in the frame/image design on this one. Water vegetation looks A-okay to me. The vibe of the image with the soft muted light is wonderful.

[Grace Scalzo]

Beautiful work, Gail. I like the soft colors of the background and the light. I feel as if a tighter crop would be an option here. Sticks can stay or go in my opinion, but I would remove the one in the reflection.

[Bill Dix]

Simply gorgeous bird; equally gorgeous image does him justice. Love the soft light that allowed perfect exposure of the vibrant colors and velvety feeling to the blacks. Judgement call on the twig, but for my personal taste, it could be evicted. Maybe a tiny bit off the top. Eager to see more.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Another beauty, Gail. Those fins are quite something along with the rest of this creature. The expression on that colorful face seems to be saying, ' take a good look at how beautiful I am'. I'm ok with or without the grasses.





Geoffrey

[Satish Ranadive]

Hi Gail,
Marvelous image if handsome Eider.
I am not expert in PP work. However I have tried composition as suggested by Randy Sir and Bill Sir.
I have applied backlight to this handsome fellow in PhotoScape, surprisingly details have been come out nicely in the blacks. I do not know the the original colors,since I have not seen the bird in real life.
I hope you don't mind and you will like it.

142747

Regards,
Satish.

[Karl Egressy]

Such a wonderful image of this great looking Duck, Gail.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

A truly gorgeous bird that I'd like to see irl someday. I like the muted light, your low shooting angle and the details. Yes, love those "dorsal fins".
I'd evict the grass in the bg and in the bird's reflection. I'd crop a tad tighter.
Agree with Satish about getting more details out of the blacks.

[gail bisson]

Thanks all for the helpful comments.
Satish- I really like what you have done.Thank you. I have not heard of Photoscape but I am sure I can bring the detail back in the blacks with Detail Extractor.
Will post a repost shortly

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

How lovely image Gail!
Love every thing in this one. I can almost feel the textures on those breast feathers! :)

[christopher galeski]

nice capure Gail,like the repost without the twig,nice detail and colors.TFS.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Great Image gail, Beautiful bird and nice details, I like the version without the twig.

[David Salem]

Nice capture Gail. Love the soft colors on this guy and the pose with the raised "fins" is great. Your techs look right on. I like it better without the twigs and I like what Satish has done. Adds a bit more pop to him. Well done

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love the repost Gail, but would move the bird further into the frame a bit - too close to the right edge.

[Doug Brown]

Beautiful bird and a perfect pose. I like the suggestions to crop a bit off the top and remove the OOF grass.

[vishaljadhav]

i like the repost better and yes the missing twig is welcome
Superb details and i love the bird with those wings and elaborate beak
looks great