American wigeon hen

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

40D. 400 f5.6L at f/6.3. iso 400. 1/1000s. evaulative metering +1. removed one catchlight.

I do realise the DOF is a little shallow but I needed the SS to freeze the head and the droplets. And since the bill and head is sharp, I am infact liking the shallow DOF effect here.

Critique and comments welcome.

[Duane Noblick]

Great sharpness where it needs to be and I like the frozen water droplets as you pointed out...really adds to the image along with the very low angle you acheived. I also like how the bg compliments the coloring of the bird.

[Mikko Viljamaa]

I can live with this DOF easily. Droplets definitely make this one...

Mikko

[Pieter de Waal]

I agree with you Kaustubh the DOF adds more interest. Beautiful BG and low angle as usual and again like the fine feather pattern and sharpness achieved.

[Grace Scalzo]

Your duck images this winter have been most enjoyable. In this one, the perfect sharpness of the head and the water droplets as well as the cute tilt of her head make this one special.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Pin sharp head is the most important thing, it's a wonderful image. I really love the low angle and water droplets. DOF work well, if anything would have liked a bit more reflection at the bottom TFS :cheers: :cheers:

[Dumay de Boulle]

Awesome detail and super BG...The droplets add massively to the image...Love the colors and light.

[Randy Stout]

Kaustubh:

Another nice one, for reasons mentioned above. The DOF is effective, but wouldn't have minded a bit more. Could have traded a bit of shutter speed for DOF here, but obviously, the head and eye have to be sharp, so perhaps this was the best compromise under these circumstances.

In general, I find the reflections to be weak when shooting at such a low angle, so am not too surprised that you cropped it out.

Cheers

Randy

[Carel v/d Sanden]

Perfect sharpness and fine droplets.

[Arthur Morris]

This series is so good that I am guessing that you back is hurting. Love the lower than low perspective.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Good job as usual Kaustubh. I am curious about why you couldn't have bumped up the ISO to increase the Fstop (DOF) to get the entire bird in focus and maintain the shutter-speed. I'm not saying that the shallower DOF doesn't work here, it certainly does, but I'm wondering why you limit your ISO to 400. Is it the 40D? Your images are outstanding, and if it isn't broke don't fix it. Just wondering. regards~Bill

[James Salywoda]

Another fantastic low angle shot of a duck and I love them all Kaustubh.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Good job as usual Kaustubh. I am curious about why you couldn't have bumped up the ISO to increase the Fstop (DOF) to get the entire bird in focus and maintain the shutter-speed. I'm not saying that the shallower DOF doesn't work here, it certainly does, but I'm wondering why you limit your ISO to 400. Is it the 40D? Your images are outstanding, and if it isn't broke don't fix it. Just wondering. regards~Bill

Bill, am not a fan of noise...so I try not to go over iso400. But in this case, I could have, as there aren't any dark areas and noise would not have been that big an issue with proper exposure.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautiful KD.. you are our duck man...

[Stu Bowie]

Kaus, you are killing me with these wonderful images. Im fine with the DOF here, as the focus is clearly on the head and falling droplets. Did I mention what lovely BG colours.:w3

[Chris Kotze]

Excellent detail colour,sharpness and angle. Super shot