Black-bellied Whistling Duck in Hyacinth

[Dan Brown]

This shot was taken in the pacific lowlands of Costa Rica while on Greg Basco and Doug Brown's workshop last week. The area is known for dangerous critters (Crocs, big snakes and other mysterious lurking things!) but we were brave! Cropped about 20%, pp'ed in ACR and CS3.

Handheld
Camera Model: NIKON D300
Shutter speed: 1/320 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 400
Lens: VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
Focal length: 400mm
VR Image Stabilization: On
AF mode: AF-C

[Mark Fuge]

Nice shot. I wonder if waiting about 2 - 3 steps would have thrown the background further out of focus though. I like the flowers, but they are neither in or out of fucus.

We have a resident flock of about 20 of these ducks in our back pond. They just left as I came on line. Fun to watch.

[Lance Peters]

love the colours and the detail - exposure looks good, Good HA and eye contact - good show :)
I might crop a little from either side and mae it more of a vertical rather than sqaure

Looking forward to more :)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Dan,
I like the capture...you have a good head angle and a sharp clear eye...the background does not bother me...you were shooting in harsh light, which by the way was handled quite well...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Gail Spitler]

To me the duck looks great (both in the image and as a sighting); the side lighting is well done. The duck position is good, like the foot in the air implying action.
I am not sure what to suggest about the bg. Overall it feels full, maybe too full. It does seem to pull the eye away from the subject. I like the idea of the flowers but wish they could be sharper and closer to the bird, but we can't remake the image now. Maybe desaturating some of the plants in the far bg would help?
Cheers
Gail

[Alfred Forns]

I like setting with the flowers Would only like to see him out of the center !!! Raise foot sure adds to the mood of the image !!!