Lesser Scaup

[pat lillich]

we carefully researched this in our bird guide - (i need to remember not to just look under "ducks" ) and are pretty sure this is a female lesser scaup

canon 7d, 400mm f/4 DO, manual at 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, iso 400, 0EV
cropped a little in LR, added contrast, clarity and vibrance
NR on background in CS5, and a little S/H and selective Unsharp mask

advice and suggestions for improvement always appreciated

[Peter Farrell]

I like this a lot, Pat. Nice detail, light, color and water drops. My only nit-pick would be to remove the white spot in the center of the head. Good job getting that much body above the rolling water.
Best wishes for the New year.
Peter

[pat lillich]

thanks Peter, I was so focused on its strange eye, that I didn't even notice the spot! reposted with the white spot removed.
hope you have a wonderful new year too.

[Sid Garige]

Pat,

Very nice composition and exposure. Color tones are working out great and look very natural.
A good head angle would have improved this image and taken it to next level.

[Julie Kenward]

Yes, coming towards you always beats moving away from you. It looks to me like you hit more detail on the back then on the eye/head areas. You might give that section a little more selective sharpening and see what you think.

Love the colors in this and those drops of water on his back are perfect! Nicely done!

[John Chardine]

Agree with comments above. Nice one Pat. I would suggest running another round of sharpening on the subject. I used Smarth sharpen, 100%, 0.4.