Mallard take off

[Krijn Trimbos]

This is from about 2 years ago when I started digital photography. Jasper invited me to come to his grebe spot where I spend most of the spring time within the ditch. One time I went alone and suddenly sort of bumped into this drake, first it seemed to stay in the water but a second later it flew off, luckily I was quick enough to get this shot.

C & C welcome and apprieciated,

Canon EOS 350D 1/640 f8 Manual
ISO 200
Canon 100-400 L IS USM
Focal Length 400mm
RAW

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Very nice colors and action!!!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Wonderful action in tis capture and I love the splash created at take off. It does appear that the light was a little harsh as there are areas that are slightly over exposed. It appears this was taken in raw so the over exposure could be changed when you bring up the raw menu. I like the blur in both wings giving one the feeling of movement. Many thanks for sharing.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Wonderful action in tis capture and I love the splash created at take off. It does appear that the light was a little harsh as there are areas that are slightly over exposed. It appears this was taken in raw so the over exposure could be changed when you bring up the raw menu. I like the blur in both wings giving one the feeling of movement. Many thanks for sharing.

Hi Judy,

Thanks for your comment and suggestion regarding going back to raw. To explain the situation this was taken during the last hour of sunshine, so I don't think that it is a matter of harsh light, just bad postprocessing....;) I have been playing around with curves a lot, so maybe I went a little far there??
I checked my file and only the white ringneck seems to be overexposed, I will remedy that asap. Thanks for the comments both of you!...

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Many thanks Krijn for explaining the situation. Definitely curves can make it too bright if taken up too high.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great angle, setting and take-off pose. I like the sense of motion and agree on toning down the whites a bit. Thanks for sharing!

[Arthur Morris]

Love the splash and the head angle. Would love to see a denser, darker re-post.

[Jay Tan]

Nice take off with splashes. The blur really gives an added sense of motion.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Love the splash and the head angle. Would love to see a denser, darker re-post.

Thanks everyone for the comments,

Artie,

What do you mean by a denser repost? A denser crop?

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, What do you mean by a denser repost? A denser crop?
By denser I mean darker with more detail all around. I will try something and post it below in two minutes..

[Arthur Morris]

OK, here is denser. I selected all (CNTRL A) and put that on its own layer (CNTRL J). Then I went to blending mode and selected Multiply. This doubled the adjusment layer and made the image way, way too dark. Then I went to the opacity slider and lowered the opacity to 25% (after trying both lighter and darker). Though the whites look bright they are not over. If I were starting from scratch with the TIFF I would try a few things to tone them down...

[Krijn Trimbos]

Thanks Artie, learned a new word and a new technique! It does look better!

Cheers

[Arthur Morris]

You are welcome. The same technique can be used to add detail to white areas. Just first select the white area with either Select/Color or via a QM. (The latter is my preference.) Then follow the steps above. All is of course in our Digital Basics File.