Be My Valentine

[Bill Dix]

Day before yesterday, on my local river. IQ hurt a bit by the large crop, but I thought it was appropriate for today.

D90 | 500f4 + 1.4x | ISO 500 | 1/1250s @ f/5.6 | -0.7 EV | monopod

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Bill, more of a forcefull valentine here.:w3 I like how the male has latched onto her neck feathers. Interesting colours in the BG.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Bill,
I agree with your own assesment on IQ......but still you go a moment captured that usually you don't witness.....as he pushes her head under too......so very good catch.

[Paul Guris]

Bill, you might try actually pulling the crop out a bit if the surrounding area is pleasing. The ducks would look nicer and an image of mating in habitat might work very well, especially with the nice looking water you have.

Mallard love is a rough proposition. At Blackwater NWR in MD I once saw five males pursuing a single female. One would catch her, climb on top, she'd slow down, the other four would pile on, and she'd disappear under the water. Then she pop back up 10 feet or so away. The males would all head right for her, and the same sequence of events would repeat again. I watched them do this over a dozen times before I moved on to find other birds. I hope she survived it!

[Todd Frost]

As you have mentioned the makes the image suffer a bit, but it's the action captured here that works. I like the suggestion of backing off on the crop a bit for a little more room and IQ at the same time. Well done.
TFS
Todd