Male Ruddy Duck

[kevin Hice]

Shot in local slough in Nd.The blue on the bill was not altered. Pretty much this intensity. Processed with Dpp 4,Photoshop,Neat image Comments and critiques appreciated.
Canon 1D X 111
500 f/4 L Is
700 mm
Av
7.1
1/800
Iso 5000

[Brian Sump]

Really liked the last one Kevin but this one is even better for me. I presume you'll get better feedback on the whites and I love the bill color here a lot more as well.

[John Mack]

The low angle is right on and the framing. Nice view of that tail. Love the water drops along the back.

[Bill Dix]

Textbook frame of the lovely breeding plumage male. Great POV, nice exposure and detail. Love the tail. Nice light, too. Wouldn't mind a bit more room in front.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Kevin, love the nice view of this duck, very hard to get close to here. The raised tail is quite nice, typical of these diving ducks. The background works well. Thank you for sharing.

[dankearl]

Whites look fine, I would add some contrast. Great subject.

[Randy Stout]

Kevin:

These guys always seem like the clowns of the duck world (along with Buffle heads of course). Great POV, tail position, colorful bill, all excellent.

I do get Dan's point about the contrast. Not much, just a bit more pop.

Great fun.

Cheers

Randy

[kevin Hice]

Added some contrast. I think it improved it. Thanks for the suggestion Dan.

[gail bisson]

Repost looks great. With the OP I wondered if there was a bit of fog at the time you took the image?
Whites look good,
Gail

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Kevin, this is great and the low POV is perfect. I also like the rich colours set against the minimal backdrop. I might have gone to 6400 as theres little difference between 5000-6400 and the MK3 is good, as I've been shoot 8000 and it's just so clean, plus you would gain a tad more SS, or depending on the EV, drop the ISO to 3200, retained a bit more dynamic range and lifted in PP, but you need to think before doing so.

To me the OP looks a bit flat and processed in LR, unless you control things, adding Contrast will kill detail, so take the image into PS and use Curves, you get a lot more out. Look at the bill, neck and especially the tail feathers and whites around the rear. Apply this to the hi res version and you will have a stunning capture. Nice work.

TFS
Steve

[kevin Hice]

Thanks Steve,I did go back into curves and make another adjustment. I used curves originally. The first thing I noticed on your version were the whites near the tail and more detail. I think it helped on the reds too made it more realistic. Plus I think it gave more definition ,color to the background.Thanks again

[Steve Kaluski]

The first thing I noticed on your version were the whites near the tail and more detail. I think it helped on the reds too made it more realistic. Plus I think it gave more definition ,color to the background.Thanks again

Hi Kevin, you might firstly drop the overall exposure just a fraction, perhps just below a third of a stop, but hard to tell on the OP. Curves yes, and I bet there is a truck load of detail at the rear you can extract, this is where layers and masks come into play, it's not just one Global adjustment fits all.

Like Colin, you are getting to grips more with the MK3 & your PP which is great to see, well done, as your confidence grows, the more fun you will have. :cheers: