Sibley's American Wigeon

[Daniel Cadieux]

I did not deliberately try for a "Sibley's" field guide look to the image, I just thought it looked like one when reviewing the day's work :t3. It was associating with mallards, and rather tough to isolate, especially for full body images (what else is new with these types of waterfowl situations!). I soon learned that if I offered food, the whole flock would move towards it, including the wigeon, but it was always the first to remove itself from the frenzy after having a few tidbits.

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/5, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, just about FF, usual eye work, downed down the whites.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful, a Daniel Cadieux classic. Thank you for sharing.

[David Cowling]

Like this a lot. The high key background works well in this image. Presume it is snow? Great low pov and love the pose.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Well composed and executed.

Like the High key Look and colors on the bird.

TFS

[dankearl]

Nice high key look. Colors are spot on and whites look good to me.

[annmpacheco]

Clean BG for sure with just subtle shadows, very nice and the wigeon looks showcased! Gorgeous colors and details with a perfect HA. well done Dan

[Isaac Grant]

Perfect pose and and head angle here. I love how the bird pops against the snow. I think I have been spoiled by the D850 files, as this one just does not have the level of fine feather details that I think it should from a full frame shot. Artites 25/25 detail extractor/tonal contrast should eke out a bit more detail in the whites and darks of the bird. I recognize that that is not a helpful critique as you were not shooting a Nikon and don't mean to start a Nikon vs Canon battle either.

[John Mack]

Looks spot on as always. Like the nice view of the feet.

[Dorian Anderson]

Fun image. Ducks out of water don't usually work for me, but the high key and snowy scene really helps to isolate the subject and highlight his beautiful plumage. Great detail on the feet, but agree with Isaac about the feather detail. Still a really strong shot.

[Bill Dix]

Yes, it's a classic field guide shot, and a lovely one. Perfect head turn. The high key look against the snow works well.

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderful image and the title made me chuckle. I will forward it to David via e-mail.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

ps: I sent a link to this post to David Sibley and he kindly responded:



Hi Artie, Thanks, that was fun to see. It is a perfect “field guide pose" in my opinion. Ha Ha, We are well, kids grown up and venturing all over. My older son is an actor and heading to Naples FL to perform in a play there in early May. The younger is just finishing college and plans to head for the mountains after that.Joan and I are more busy than ever, especially with travel, and made our first trip to the far south last October-November; Falklands and South Georgia, which was incredible. I would love to see Emperor Penguins some day.Hope our paths cross somewhere soon
Best, David