Preening Wood Duck

[Doug Brown]

I spent yesterday afternoon at the Zoo with Troy Lim and his friend Mark. Unfortunately it was one of those rare New Mexico days where the light was mediocre at best. We still had a good time. Here's a photo of a preening Wood Duck that I liked. Cropped from horizontal. It's a little unconventional, so I'm interested in your opinions!

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Canon 1D Mark IV, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held

[Danny J Brown]

Doug,

I like this image as the colors are rich and realistic. You didn't try to bring out the shadows as to wash out the bird; you just let them ride as you likely saw the fella at the location. The eye is especially nice on this wood duck as it isn't glowing to a blur, but instead perfectly sharp. The deep purple on the head fades into the dark bokeh and that is fine....I like it. I also like the weird chromish strata of the background as it lends an art quality to the shot. Finally, I have to say that I like the beautiful bronzish color in the lower right corner that you just captured in this comp. Nice, candid pose here as well. Good one, DB.

DB

[nancy hazen]

I love this image. The lines of the white draw the eye upward and compliment the deep rich colors of the duck. Beautifully done!
Nancy

[pietipeppie]

Interesting photo, but photos taken at the zoo are not really my favorite. Naturally when you do not always have time to think about everything, but in the zoo everything you can often playback.

The picture itself is fine and the composition good.

ppie
www.ppie.net (http://www.ppie.net)

[Doug Brown]

FYI these are wild birds, not captives.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Doug ,

Unusual but compelling image with again that spectacular combination of colours. I like the colour management and detail. The swirls on the water add to a very artistic image.

[Alan Lillich]

A great collection of curves. The more I look the more I see. And many intertwine like a yin/yang symbol.

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

An unusual crop with very nice result. Like the side lighting which helps show more texture than you often see in the whites with full frontal lighting.

I do believe the original is too dark, and something between your post and Peter's repost would be nice. I tend to prefer darker images than most, but the original could stand 1/4 to 1/3 more stop of exposure.

Cheers

Randy

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for the valuable feedback. I like the idea of brightening the bird a little. This is +0.38 stops on just the bird. What do you think about this version?

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[Stu Bowie]

Doug, I like your repost. I really like the shape of the head, and with the preening behaviour, it shows off the curvature nicely. You seem to have mastered the colours on these guys, and they are very striking and varied.

[Chris Martinez]

I absolutely love the background and I think the repost is very pleasing. The colours of the bird are expressed beautifully in this image. I think the crop is spot on, suits the flow of the bird.:)

[Charles Scheffold]

Repost does it for me - love the colors and pose. Eye is just perfectly in focus.

Charles

[James Salywoda]

I like your repost Doug it sure was the added punch well captured.

[Kiran Poonacha]

I really like the repost Doug Bhai... beautiful colors indeed...

[denise ippolito]

I really like this one Doug! The pose and sharpness are great. The repost is nice.

[Doug Brown]

I really like this one Doug! The pose and sharpness are great. The repost is nice.

Thanks Denise! Does this image qualify for OOTB? :)

[denise ippolito]

Of course it does Doug!!:)

[Troy Lim]

Doug, you are killing me with your duck shots. :)
It was an honor to meet up and shoot with you this trip. We will do it again, either in NM or FL.
I like the repost. Great moment captured.