Duck Fight...

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image of two male Blue-winged Teal fighting on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Merritt Island, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, image captured at 400mm
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +2/3 ISO 900 Auto 1 WB , camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2020 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped from 2x3 to 16x9 for composition and presentation

[Randy Stout]

Joe:

Real sense of conflict/turmoil here with the, open bill and aggressive pose of the left bird. Crop works well. It almost looks like it needs a bit of CCW rotation, but I think that impression may be influenced by the raised position of the left duck.

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

Nice action but the focus caught the flying water in front...

[Daniel Cadieux]

Intense action, with great views of the speculums. Fun interaction too. I weas going to comment on some rotation, and see Randy has already done so - perhaps it is worth experimenting with it just to see. The male Blue-winged Teals in breeding plumage are not nearly this approachable up here, so I appreciate seeing their colours here.

[Dorian Anderson]

Nice action, but the framing, high-ish shooting angle, and lack of sharpness make this tough for me. The frame is muddled and looks more like a quick grab shot than a well-composed effort.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nice action, but the framing, high-ish shooting angle, and lack of sharpness make this tough for me. The frame is muddled and looks more like a quick grab shot than a well-composed effort.

Hey Dorian, I concur with your comments but it couldn't be changed. I was in a blind, the lowest hole for photography was a knee height (which I used) and the ducks were sort of close when they began fighting. Next time I am bringing my battery operated reciprocating saw to cut my own hole (just kidding, I would be arrested in a national wildlife refuge. You are also right about a grab shot, water spraying everywhere, couldn't see the ducks when they engaged, just mash the shutter down and hope. Thank you for viewing and commenting, much appreciated.

[John Mack]

Great action and nice view of the left teal's wing. Love those colors. Yes water does look sharper than the birds.