The Snowflakes and the Shoveler.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This was not an easy place to get down low, but I managed to slip myself onto the only spot to be able to do that (without getting frozen wet). The next challenge was to wait for the mallards to move out of the way. A third challenge was some mist and rising from the water rendering most of the images unusable. A few of the frames were very good though (the wind picked up to blow the mist away), including this one which has a couple of bonus decorations adorning the Northern Shoveler's head:S3:.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/640s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, small crop to help the composition, boosted contrast and saturation.

[John Rowell]

Great detailed portrait. I like the really liquid look of the water and the coloring in the head. Just how did you get this duck to hold still while you glued those snowflakes on? I think the 2 oof feathers on the back are a bit distracting and would consider removing them. The really close pose gives a very intimate feel.

[Grace Scalzo]

You have really made the most of this nice opportunity, Daniel, and your hard work in finding the perfect spot has payed off again. The snowflakes are a huge bonus as is the ice. As you know, I'm not a big fan of sanitizing nature images but for some reason my eye goes right to those feathers sticking up and in this case, I would remove them. Always personal taste and I hesitate to offer a photographer of your caliber presentation suggestions, but if this were mine, I would brighten it a bit.

[Joe Murphy]

Those snowflakes top off a fine image, lovely work Daniel.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, your low angle really looks great here, and overall, well exposed on the Mallard, especially on the greens of the head. The eye doesnt seem as sharp as your usual standard, and the two star shaped ice particles takes this over the top.

[Richard Flack]

Hi Daniel, love the low angle, interesting pose, snowflakes and detail. I would consider removing the OOF feathers as they dont add much IMO. TFS

[Tim Graham]

Daniel, great image! A couple things here that can be done to take the image from wow to WOW!
1.As others pointed out the OOF feathers on the back.
2. The dark distant horizon? in front of the eye line, distracting.
3. Overall tighter crop, too much negative space for this view of the ducks body that is incl in the framing. Looking for better balance between subject and bkgrd.
4. Brightened the eye a tiny bit and saturated the colors a wee bit as well. Probably the mist was very faintly still there acting as a soft filter but not enough to make it an ethereal image.

Just my opinion to make a very powerful image all the more so. Not to offend but insight to help see the possibilities. Some may like, others MB not so much???
See attached down and dirty PS to get a better idea of above points.


Awesome capture guy!!!!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Daniel i like the story around the image and finally you did well from my POV . I like the low POV and the ice stars the most . The right amount of DOF and nicely processed as always !! Good colors and tonal range IMHO .
TFS Andreas

[Joe Subolefsky]

Cool shot love the POV.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey everyone, thanks a bunch for the critiques, suggestions, and the repost (looks good, Tim). Although I prefer my original composition, I really like the idea of removing the "horizon" line (that is where the ice meets the water about 3-4 feet behind the subject).

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent portrait, Sir.

Regards,
Satish.