Wood Duck Drake Calling.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Except for a few odd times I rarely had much luck properly photographing Wood Ducks - until last week. A few pairs of them have been taking advantage of seeds left behind by families feeding the ducks (mostly Mallards). Of course, this has got them a bit more habituated to people than normal, and in turn this has attracted local photographers to the scene (who of course then place seeds in more open areas for better photos...:S3:)

Here the male is calling out for its mate which has gotten temporarly lost within the mass of Mallards and gulls.

Canon 30D + 100-400L @260mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/6.3, ISO 400 (settings histogram checked), handheld, FF.

[Troy Lim]

Like the calling pose...wish could see the feet but not much you could do about it.
Great exposure. TFS.

[Sid Garige]

excellent details Dan. Great job with calling pose.

[Katie Rupp]

A Wood Duck in the snow...a first for me. I love the raised feathers on the top of his head, the calling pose and especially the ice/snow crystals around the beak. Very nice, Daniel!

[Tom Rambaut]

I have never seen such a colourful duck. The patterns are amazing!

We have Wood Ducks here, but they are nothing on this. I realy like the snow on the bill. Exposure spot on.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Congrats on getting in this close to these guys. I also haven't had much luck locally, as they tend to be pretty wary in Michigan.

The snow def. gives a different look for a wood duck!

The snow has given you great illunination of the underside. In a perfect world, would wish for a little more color showing on the back, but I just don't think that was possible under these lighting conditions.

Hope you get some more of these wonderful little ducks.

Cheers

Randy

[Grace Scalzo]

So different from the usual Wood Duck in water image. Of course your techs look perfect as they always do. I like the calling pose, the bits of snow on his bill and the eye contact. Personally, I do miss the feet.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Daniel, never seen a wood-duck in snow image before. The colors pop so well. loved the low angle, calling pose and bird angle. terrific shot.

[Cody Covey]

We have plenty of wood ducks here but holy smokes that is one well fed duck haha. beautiful capture of a beautiful duck in breeding plumage :)

[Charles Scheffold]

Fine detail and a great pose... I particularly like the framing on this one.

thanks
Charles

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the calling pose, details and sharpness. Well done as usaul!

[Dumay de Boulle]

Amazing looking duck and the exp looks good on the snow and the bird...Lovely IQ and comp...Nicely done here Daniel

[Robert Jensen]

Wish I had a critique, but I don't. Love the image, especially the dropplets on the bill, and the little bit of tongue showing.