Canvasback

[Dorian Anderson]

I've been birding for 35 years, and I never dreamed I'd get this close to this magnificent duck! They're always out in open bays, so getting this one in an LA park pond on Xmas was the best imaginable present!

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/2500 at f/7.1, ISO 640
Processed in LR CC. Cloned a few minor irregularities on water and made a few local exposure adjustments on the back.

189465

[Joseph Przybyla]

Just about perfect, love the image. I have never had a opportunity to photograph this duck, on my bucket list. Thank you for sharing.

[Bill Dix]

Great light and exposure. And what a thrill to get such a close look at one of these beauties. I haven't seen them often, and always at a distance.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Dorian . nice solid portrait . Love the super low POV !!
Well handled exposure and you have a ton of detail to look at in your posting !!!!
Superb colors ..... sadly I am not making my peace with your blacks :bg3: ... but it is your frame , so I keep it for me :t3.

Nice one TFS Andreas

[annmpacheco]

Hi Dorian, boss Duck boss image! lovely details, lioght, and the water and BG being so unusual really adds to this top notch gift Santa delivered to you, well done.

[gail bisson]

I am so jealous of this beautiful portrait!
Love the detail, light and that perfect head angle.
No nits from me and the crop is spot on,
Gail

[John Mack]

Nice. Now we have a wall of shame style portrait. The head angle is bang on. Really love the red eyes these guys have. Nice detail on the bird. The background color compliments the head and neck very well.

[dankearl]

Fantastic, Wish it were mine.

[Brian Sump]

Downright bangin' Dorian!

Colors are rich, great contrast and complimentary water colors. Super well done.

Hard to find anything to dislike here man. The only suggestion I can share is to maybe fix the halo line across the brow as it became noticeable to me without looking super hard. Love your attn to detail Dorian.
:cheers:

[Steve Kaluski]

Like the overall colour palette Dorian, a bit big in frame for me, but... however I'm with Andreas re blacks, I just want to see more in that bill. As you had truck loads of ISO then f/8 or 9 as the head is slightly angled towards you which is great, but I think the tip isn't quite there and with such a tight and detailed portrait, I feel everything needs all to be inline. Love the beady red eye.

TFS
Steve

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm jealous of this one too as I only see them hundreds of yards out into the water...and that is if they even show up during migration! Rich colours and warm light make a great combo. Gotta love that red eye!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dorian, all has been said above. This is insanely good. Congrats on a very fine image.

[arash_hazeghi]

can't get closer than that, you can almost touch him. great light which brought out a lot of fine details/texture

happy new year and stay safe