Male Gadwall Duck "Dorsal View"

[James Salywoda]

Gadwall Duck
Southern California

This was the shot I wanted most with this species as it really shows the beautiful
markings on this male Gadwall.... Happy Thanksgiving to all..:)

Nikon D300s AFS 600 F4 1.4 TC
1/2500 F8 ISO 500

Thanks For Looking

Jim

[Gary Esman]

Very very nice. Beautiful image.

Gary.

[Greg Basco]

Jim, really nice in terms of technical execution, and the BG water with those earth tone reflections adds a really pleasing feel to the image. Congrats on a great flight shot.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Pieter de Waal]

James you continue to produce these great flight images. Lovely spread wings and exposure brings out the markings as you mentioned, well done.

[Andreas Lentfer]

James,
a fantastic flight shot with an interesting perspective. Any illustrator would love this picture as a reference!
Regards
Andreas.

[Richard Stern]

Brings out the subtle markings and colors on the bird sharply and beautifully. Lovely wing angle, bg and everything.

Overall superb image.

Richard

[Danny J Brown]

Jim,

The drake gadwall is loaded with understated beauty. Your image highlights the tightly scalloped pattern on the neck and the beautiful rufous color on the wings. Your unique dorsal presentation is a sweet dessert after Thanksgiving dinner.

DB

[Randy Stout]

Jim:

Good critiques above. Nicely captured dorsal view with excellent display of the subtle feather pattern/details.
The small brown areas in the water help pull the image together for me.

I haven't seen one of these fellows in person. Do they show much detail in the white tertials?

Another beauty

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very impressive image Jim. Perfect study in Gadwall plumage fieldmarks. I also like the water BG, very nice.

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful flight image James! I like the detail, wing angle and BG.

[Stu Bowie]

Jim, excellent dorsal view, and I like the slight banking angle with the full wingspread. I like the colours and detail, and separated from the water BG nicely. Well captured.

[Kirk Benson]

Beautiful image James for all of the reasons already mentioned... coloring and patterns are very well presented in this very cool topside view. Excellent.

It was also very nice to finally meet you, hope to see you again soon. :)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Great Jim image mate! Love the spread wings and the perfect view. You are the flight specialist IMO! Happy Thanksgiving to you too! :)

[James Salywoda]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Here is a repost I gave this shot a small midtone adjustment which I think brought out the mid tones a bit better as I processed this in a room that was a bit brite and just wasn't totally happy with the way the original looked.... Opinions appreciated as always..:)