Wood duck portrait

[Bryan Hix]

I had a great couple of days on the lake this weekend and was able to get several good shots of wood ducks. This drake came by my blind pretty close and I was fortunate to be in some great morning light. I have been waiting a long time to capture a good portrait. I got frustrated with the soft focus I was getting with my 1.4TC, so I took it off and noticed a pretty big difference. Now I have mixed feelings about using it.

I cropped this as a 5x5, so curious as to the thoughts. Not much in PSE7 besides crop, sharpening, levels. Not sure if I should selectively lightening anything or not.

Canon 1D MK III
Canon 500mm f/4 @ f/4.5
ISO 500, 1/1250th
Manual, spot metering
7:30am, 28 degrees, sunny

[Dave Mills]

Bryan, Beautiful capture! From the light, sharpness, angle and even the little water gurgling in front of the duck. Would like to see just a bit more room in front. Very nice!!

[Fabs Forns]

Colors look good to me, I wouldn't change them. I often crop to unconventional ratios, so 5X5 is fine with me.
You managed a very sharp eye on difficult bird, with weird floating pupils.

Of course, teles soften the image a lot, but are sometimes a necessary evil. Proper technique in using them, like securing the lens and plenty of shutter speed should help you there.

[Stu Bowie]

Lovely light, and you have exposed the colours very well in this.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The exposure and colours look good. There is just a touch of a warm spot on the white cheek line to tame, and a few more on the reflecting stripe on the flank. I'm OK with the crop too, although a bit of extra room wouldn't hurt either. I do wish for a better head angle as to my eye it seems ever so slightly turned away. Great job on the greens and purples on the head/face.

[Alex Mody]

I like the portrait quite a bit. Regarding crop, I might prefer a 4x5 with added room on the top and bottom (if you have it in the original, that is.) The color is just right too. I have to ask, just out of curiosity, why do you say it's a 5:5 crop instead of saying 1:1 or square? Just wondering.