Green-winged Teal ( Natural Surroundings)

[James Salywoda]

Green-winged Teal Back Bay ,newport Bch. Calif.

For people familiar with the Back Bay its impossible for a lower shooting angle so you take what you can get and try to make the best of it. I liked the habitat in this shot.

Nikon D300 AFS 600 F4 1.4 TC
1/1000 F6.3 ISO 320

Thanks For Looking

Jim

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Jim,
The angle doesn't bother me at all and I like the habitat inclusion in this image. The reflected blue sky and the duck's image in the water are also quite nice. The head seems a bit soft to me although the eye itself doesn't seem bad. The white stripe on the side (top of wing?) is now the first thing I see although I didn't notice it at first.
Steve

[John Cooper]

A very attractive Teal James (another new species for me)! The subject looks very sharp on my monitor and I like the inclusion of some habitat. The yello/brown reeds work well with the complimentry blue of the water. Nice one!!

[Grady Weed]

The head does seem a tad soft, probably due to the reeds in the focal point. Still nice catch. The green stripe is a real standout. Once mentioned, the white vertical stripe is a very noticable. Not that it by itself is distracting to me. Did you apply a blur to the upper bg?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

In this case I think it was a good idea to choose this angle to keep some separation between bird and BG reeds. I like the included habitat. Light looks good and maybe another round of sharpening of the head, although I'm not entirely sure, just a thought. The BG looks a bit noisy on my monitor.