Blue-winged Teal Hen

[Bill Dix]

From Cape May last weekend. Shot in dull, low light late in the day. C&C appreciated. I got a few frames of her, but this is the only one with her blue feathers showing. She had been feeding in the algae scum at the edge of the pond, resulting in the bathtub ring. The low light and fill flash made this look pretty flat in the camera, but some Levels and Sat adjustments, and a bit of black added to neutrals, helped it.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 200-, 1/800s @ f/6.3 manual. Fill @ -2.7EV.

[Grace Scalzo]

Sounds like your processing brought this to life. Good find, and much interest between the "bathrub ring" and the pleasing background. The blue feathers showing is icing . Keep thinking that I might like a bit more profile to the head, but fine as is.

[Ian Wilson]

Good recovery Bill, I would never have guessed. I like the composition with a nice background, good eye contact. Well done. Regards, Ian

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the low angle, BG, details and composition. Well done Bill.

[gail bisson]

Very nice Bill.
I like the head turn as she glides by you.
Lookslike you nailed the PP,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

I could see the colours in the BG punched up a bit more, but I like the low angle, head angle, composition. The bit of blue in the wing is really neat to see.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

She's a beauty, Bill. BG colors work well with her, and nice you were able to get the blue feathers.



Geoffrey

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for your comments.

Grace, I did get a frame that is almost pure profile, with just a slight head turn. I liked that one too, but it lacked the blue feathers and seemed just a bit static.

Daniel, I wasn't sure how far to push the BG saturation without making it look unnatural and overwhelming the duck. In this repost, just for fun, I've added about 30 points of saturation. Probably too much, but I'm curious to know what folks think.

[Jim Crosswell]

I think somewhere between the OP and the repost regarding the BG saturation for me Bill.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks for the repost....and I have the same thoughts as Jim - somewhere between the two.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks guys. I figured that would be the reaction. Here's one more repost, with saturation halfway between the OP and RP#1.