Mallard drake portrait

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/10175051-lg.jpg

40D. 300 f/4 non-IS and 1.4x. iso 640. f/8. 1/160...lying flat on ground( bank higher than the water). cropped from horizontal...otherwise pretty close to full frame. Some NR on BG and USM on bird. I could have shot vertical. But even with the battery grip on 40D( the 'block of wood' design that I dont like much), I get more shake hand-held.

All critiques welcome.

[Bill Jobes]

Love the low angle on this one.
You must have been close, as the DOF is razor sharp on the eye, and drops off markedly. Nice to be able to be up close with our friends. :)
The muted tonal qualities of the colors speaking to the autumn season is a nice touch.

[Brian Barcelos]

Nice detail and I like the colors. Glad you got a nice low angle and nice BG. I might crop up from the bottom to get rid of the water. Just a personal choice though. Congrats

[Ben Egbert]

Beautiful image, well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Great close up KD, with good light cast on the head - shows up the colours nicely. I like the perspective too.

[Rohan Kamath]

how i wish we could get this close here in our part of the world...loved the details and low angle...

-Cheers,
Rohan
__________________________________________________
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[Mital Patel]

kaustubh i know my last week session and funny it is to read for all but to show that image to some people i hav to crop it to 75% as record shot . and that describes my world allowence with the ducks :)

very well done. this is a macro i would say :)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Mital...Mallards are very common here in urban ponds and are very used to people. They will come to your feet if you give them food. They have even hit me with their beaks a few times :-) A 85mm lens will also get the job done. They give you a very good opportunity to try out different things.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yep, you can always count on the Mallards at local ponds...kind of like Chickadees at feeders during the winter :-) Good job on getting the focus on the eye. A small distraction for me is the highlight next to the nostril. You could use the clone and/or patch tools effectively here (if your ethics allow it). You'll need to practice your vertical handholding capabilities to avoid having to crop to get verticals ;-)