Preening Mallard

[Diane Miller]

I was walking along a dam, heading for a location where I could actually get down to water level, when I saw this guy. I was attracted to the way the feathers were splayed out, and after several very quick slight variations of the single focus point, managed to get one with most of the feathers in focus. Canon 7D2, 100-400 II at 255. ISO 800, f/8, 1/640, handheld. Cloudy-bright light.

Minimal adjustments in LR. Into PS to lighten the reflection, darken the bottom of the water and tame a magenta cast that went unnoticed out of raw conversion.

Then I went on and sat in the mud for an hour and nobody came anywhere near. There is another spot with some cover from brush and trees that I'll try next time. The duck population seems very low this year.

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

Excellent feather detail, I

esp. like the tail, nicely done DOF. Good detail on the head, where often only the overpowering green sheen is seen.

A very well captured mallard drake.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Amazing feather details and sharpness. Love the preening pose.

[adrian dancy]

The detail is breathtaking. The pose with the feathers on display works superbly. The lamellae show well too.

[keith mitchell]

Agree with the above Diane the detail on this is superb, just shows what can be done with a so called common bird and someone that can take it of course.

Keith.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Diane , you have stunning feature detail and a cool pose even if the angle does not seem to be optimal shooting down ?!
Overall the image appears a bit bright and thin in the tones , i might also look at the halo running along the " forehead " .

Well seen in the field and nice work , TFS Andreas

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image.
Absolutely superb fine details in feathers, wonderful colours, beautiful tail feathers, superb HA, beautiful BG and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gee whizz you have some beautiful detail there Diane, I didn't spot the halo at first but critical examination shows a slight one, most apparent from the forehead running up to the crown. Had you taken it from a more conventional angle I think you would only have seen half the fanned tail so I think this angle is pretty cool.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gee whizz you have some beautiful detail there Diane, I didn't spot the halo at first but critical examination shows a slight one, most apparent from the forehead running up to the crown. Had you taken it from a more conventional angle think you would only have seen half the fanned tail so I think this angle is pretty cool.......
Just read previous comments regarding the halo!

[John Robinson]

Superb image all around Diane. Don't need rare stuff to get nice images (Helps abit at times though!!!)
Good stuff
John

[Diane Miller]

Thanks for the comments everyone! Andreas, I agree the body is a bit low in contrast. The light was very soft, which gave it an appealing look that attracted me, but I've now reworked the raw with slightly different emphasis on the different tonalities. Don't know how much the difference will show here, but I think it's better -- thanks for the push. The water doesn't please me. I tried to give it a little more punch but it was limited by the dull light.

The halo appeared when I created the JPEG -- that should be fixed now. No sharpening of any sort except the LR default. Into PS for a touch of NR (Dfine), but it was a very subtle change that wouldn't show here. Removed some of the red dirt color in the reflection and aiso a very subtle lightening of the darker part of the head.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Diane ..... i talked about tonal density / color density , not just contrast as i think the OP is contrasty enough . It just needs some depth .... well for sure just for my eyes , must not be for other eyes .

So here is what i was thinking the image should go , without thinking it is the right way ..... just my view .

Cheers Andreas

[Diane Miller]

Not sure what you did but I'd guess bringing down the center point of a Curve? For my tastes, the midtones have gone just a little muddy here. I prefer a brighter look -- but maybe halfway between these last two. I did tweak Exposure down a bit in LR for the RP -- it wasn't moved for the OP. That let me bring down Highlights less, restoring some contrast in the lights. (I should only speak of local contrast, as I can't remember the last time I touched the Contrast slider.)

Differences here could be partly monitors, as well as just preferences.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Diane i never touch the curve globally :S3: only through a mask , so it is not just curve down . Three layers with three luminosity masks , one curve , one exp and one sat layer to reduce the added blue color .
No problem if you like the brighter version more , with your RP you have also created a different color version ..... more a greenish touch , i prefer the op though .
IN the end you must like it the most .

Cheers Andreas

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Simply wonderful image, Diane, the original post that is minus the halo. Remarkably almost every feather, minus the underpinnings, showing as he grooms. Love the detail.


Geoffrey

[Diane Miller]

You're right on the color -- I went a little too far correcting a magenta cast in the raw step. Meant to fix it but got interrupted and didn't.

[adrian dancy]

In my view the first post is correct spot on. Respectfully I think the colours and colour depth/shade have gone a bit awry in the reposts.

[gail bisson]

I am very late to the party but I am loving the DOF you got here and the IQ.
Love the see through feet,
Gail

[Glennie Passier]

Late to the party as well Diane. IMO, the OP is the best and most accurate in colour. As Gail has mentioned, love the feet through the water. Beautiful detail, and I love his teeth.

Is it because you were sitting in the mud that nobody came near? Crazy person - keep away. It's great to see you posting.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks folks!!

Glennie -- undoubtedly... Animals have good instincts.

[annmpacheco]

MR. Mallard never looked soooo good! Well done, whoops, very well done!