The most photographed?

[Gary Esman]

Around here the Mallard has to be the most photographed waterfowl out there. I still like this shot due to the light angle and it is a little different. C and C appreciated and thanks for taking the time to look!

7D, f/5.6, 1/1000, iso 400, 700mm.

Gary.

[Marina Scarr]

This is really a lovely capture of Mallard, Gary. Love the way the FG and BG blend together to make a nice soft canvas. The head up and the kick of water are a nice touch, and the light is gorgeous.

[Randy Stout]

Gary:

Very fine mallard image, lots of exuberance coming through.
Excellent light, like the framing, good amount of green sheen showing. Good BG.

Cheers

Randy

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Gorgeous presentation, Gary. Superb pose, fg/bg colors and splash of action.
Lovely colors, light and sharpness. Very nice image!

[dankearl]

Beautiful image of a really pretty, underrated duck, just because they are common.
It really pops out of a great BG.
Well done.

[Shreeni Rao]

Gary,

This is one the most graceful photo of a Mallard I have seen ! There is an inescapable sense of motion and happiness in the photo. I can feel the Mallard smiling :S3:

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Gary,

Great exposure, color and texture and a nice catch of the curly tail in the splashing water. Mallards are gorgeous no matter how common. The image seems to be leaning downhill to the right, by the way. Take care.

DB

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm surprised no one has pointed this out yet, but the image needs a bit of CCW rotation.

Anyhow, great pose, love the water action, and lovely brown tones to the BG. Whites near the tail look hot, but tough to get in check...the exposure looks good on the rest of the duck including the other whites.

[Gary Esman]

I'm surprised no one has pointed this out yet, but the image needs a bit of CCW rotation.

Anyhow, great pose, love the water action, and lovely brown tones to the BG. Whites near the tail look hot, but tough to get in check...the exposure looks good on the rest of the duck including the other whites.

Hi Daniel, not sure how else to rotate this? Also, pulled up the original and double checked the whites and none are blown. Had a similar question last night for Artie but no response as of yet. Here is a link to the thread http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/88451 Not sure what he is referring to. If I knew it may help.:bg3:

Gary.

[Gary Esman]

Thanks all for kind comments!

Gary.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey Gray, I didn't say blown, but "hot"...quite bright (area is overexposed) with no details. The image is well exposed overall, just a tough area to avoid looking "hot".

As for the thread you refer to, I haven't heard that term before so I can't know for sure either. In a perhaps related option, in your RAW converter the use of the "recovery" slider (if available in the software you use) may help with the tail's whites.

For the repost I gave the image a 0.86 CCW rotation using the ruler tool:

[Gary Esman]

Hey Gray, I didn't say blown, but "hot"...quite bright (area is overexposed) with no details. The image is well exposed overall, just a tough area to avoid looking "hot".

As for the thread you refer to, I haven't heard that term before so I can't know for sure either. In a perhaps related option, in your RAW converter the use of the "recovery" slider (if available in the software you use) may help with the tail's whites.

For the repost I gave the image a 0.86 CCW rotation using the ruler tool:

Thanks Daniel that clears up what you were talking about. That tail is very hard to get detail out off. I almost need light at a different angle to give it some shadow. Re-post looks good.

[Jim Fenton]

Love the light, pose and you did a great job with the subjects colors. I think you could do a bit more to make the head really shine by lighting the back of the head / neck just a hair and then doing a little selective color work to really bring it out.

Agree with Daniel about the rotation.

Whites in the tail look a bit fried and I would be tempted to tone them down a bit using liner burn of dodging the highlights a tad.