My first Mandarin duck

[Cheryl Flory]

Canon 40D
Sigma 50-500
161mm
1/1000"
F7.1
ISO 400
EC 0.0


Cropped some from the left side and top. Desaturated blue from the snow.
I would have liked to have been lower, but was already as low as I could get on the walkway at the zoo. I pretended that people were not stepping over me. :)

Would love to hear what you think...

[Lance Peters]

HI Cheryl - exposure and colour rendition looks very good, you have good sharp details and a good HA - not always easy at a zoo - nice!!
as you noted you could not get any lower - IMHO a super low angle would put this over the top :)

[Cheryl Flory]

Are the dark areas too dark? Or is it accurate in this image?

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Cheryl,
I like the composition and capture...lower capture angle noted...that's ok...:) This is my favorite duck...the colors are beautiful...the white band on the head is almost on the warm side, but these little guys are difficult to expose...you did good...proud of you...:cool:

[Cheryl Flory]

oops, I just received an email saying this is a male Mandarin duck. How do I change that in the title???

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Cheryl will make the change !!! btw did great with exposure !!!

[Cheryl Flory]

Thanks, Al. I was having difficult with the whites blowing out. Eventually I just waiting until the duck walked into the amount of sunlight needed for its coloring and eye highlight. lol. Sadly, it took me awhile to figure that simple thing out. It was at this duck area that I wore out the shutter on my camera. It totally quit. Sent the camera back to the company, and got it back today with a new shutter assembly and new dial assembly. so now the camera is ready to go again.... yee hawww.

[Harold Davis]

beautiful bird and well composed. nice job on waiting for it to move to softer light. made a big difference i'm sure!!

[Christopher Miller]

Beautiful bird and good job with a tough exposure! I do wish the BG was cleaner but you take what you get.

[denise ippolito]

Hi Cheryl, All has been said -good capture!

[Katie Rupp]

Beautiful bird and a very challenging photographic image, especially in the snow. Nice one, Cheryl.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hello Cheryl, way to tough it out to get the right light. I love the ducks, and this one is a gem! As you noted, there is no way to get these little cuties properly exposed in harsh light - need to wait for just the right amount. I especially appreciate that your image shows a difference between the white of the snow and the white on the bird. Good one!

[Gail Spitler]

Just plain super.
Gail