Pairing Gadwall male portrait

[John Chardine]

After quite a hiatus I managed to get down to our local wetland and see what was there this late in the year. As is typical for ducks, Gadwalls were pairing up and were in fine form- the males, like this one, showing a prominent topknot which was raised when displaying to nearby females.

Image was lightly cropped for head and shoulders portrait and sharpened as usual. I ran a soft blur brush over the BG. The two catchlights were the sun and its reflection in water behind me- totally natural and so I left it.

Canon EOS 40D, 500mm f4, 1.4 tc = 700mm
capture date: Monday, October 13, 2008 1:40:26 PM
exposure program: Aperture Priority
ISO speed: 640
shutter speed: 1/2500
aperture: f5.6
exposure bias: +0.3
metering: Pattern
flash: OFF

[Aidan Briggs]

Nice capture John. I like the pose and BG. I might sharpen the bird a bit more.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very cool! Excellenty details, and a good comp. Even though the catchlight(s) are natural I'd still get rid of the small one in lower part of the eye. I'd also tone down the bright strwak behind the head. The open bill is super - with a great view of the comb-like bristles. I like it alot :-)

[James Salywoda]

Very sweet! I like the open bill and excellent detail....

[Juan Aragonés]

The details and open beak makes this image for me. I love the low angle, eye details and, specially, the water drop hanging from the lower mandible.