Speaking my mind - Wood Duck

[Randy Stout]

Image captured in Cleveland, Ohio, two years ago, never processed.

He certainly seemed quite proud.

D700 500 mm f/4 with TC 1.4 @ f/5.6 1/1250s ISO 800 Gitzo/Wimberley

Post: CS5 selective sharpen, 20% crop for comp
I used Artie's cyan adjustment tip on the reds in the eye to tone it down a bit - works well

Comments and advice always appreciated

Cheers

Randy

[Jim Fenton]

Absolutely love the water...both the pattern and the colors as it complements the subject so well.

Excellent pose with the bill open.

Whites look a tad hot and the blacks in the back could be opened up just a little..at least on my monitor. I think you could dodge the back of the head a hair to even out the wonderful head colors.

Interestingly, the bird looks like it could use a smidge of CCW rotation yet the ripples on the water look like they could use a smidge of CW...so I guess it's simply the angle of the bird and the water to you.

Lovely.

[Andrew Merwin]

Great image Randy. I really like the BG, the open bill & silky look to the water. When I lived in MN I had 3 wood duck nesting boxes in my back yard that were used annually. Wood ducks are one of my favorite birds.

[Melissa Groo]

What a beautiful shot, RAndy. That water is out of control. Did you do anything to it to get it to look that silky? Such a painterly effect to it. And the calling behavior, the perfect head turn, and the gorgeous colors and sharpness of the bird add up to an awesome portrait. Dig that reflection too.

[ramesh anantharaman]

The first tjing that came to my mind when I saw this is Pure serenity. Love the golden feel of the water and the colour rendition her. Perfect:bg3:

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Randy, you have nailed the exposure and colours on Mr Wood Duck, and of course getting the open beak adds so much more. Great eye contact - he seems to be looking at you, and just love the texture of the water. What took you so long to share this with us. :w3

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments;

Jim - its funny about the rotation issue. I had not rotated the image until this morning, when I was ready to post, I realized that the ripples showed it needed CW rotation, which I did, 1 degree. Now of course, the duck looks like he needs to go the other way! I think I will leave it as is for now:S3:

Melissa: nothing in post to the water, just got lucky to get the smooth, silky texture. Wish I could say for sure why it happens sometimes, as I would love to be able to repeat it, but it seems to be a multi factorial thing, which so far I haven't been able to duplicate at will:bg3:


Stuart: I had not looked at files from that trip for several years, but took a look back and found this and several others which are probably worth posting. Pays to go back once in a while.

Cheers

Randy

[Herb Houghton]

Sweet shot Randy, it pops from the thumbnail. I like the horizontal lines in the BGd, almost look flamelike. Great exposure and the open beak sure makes it more interesting.

[gail bisson]

This looks like a painting, Randy. The water is what puts this shot over the top. The reflection, open beak also elevate this shot to the next level. No nits from me,
Gail

[Doug Brown]

Terrific pose and incredible water color. The whites could be toned down a little.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks Doug, Gail and Herb for your input.

Jim Fenton mentioned that the darker areas were not showing much detail, I did a slight revision with a little lightening of the back and back of head to reveal a bit more color and detail. I have gone slightly over board to show the difference.

What do you think?

Thanks

Randy

[Emily Norman]

stunning. I love the watercolor feel and that you caught him with his mouth open just puts this over the top! I'm still hoping to get a shot of one of these - I see the females all the time but never the males!

[Chad Caswell]

Beautiful image Randy, love the open mouth and the head turn is just enough for me. Perhaps a lower shooting angle would have helped, I like it when the bg fades out to a blur. Colors look good to me, maybe toning down the whites a smigin'

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty Randy! That water is incredible. I like the pose, HA and open bill. There is no way I would have an image like this sitting in my files for two years!

[Gary Esman]

Randy

Excellent shot! The rotation here is difficult because it appears he is leaning forward just a tad. Exposure looks great and nice and sharp. Getting pumped to get some more?

Gary.

[Raul Padilla]

i like the great colors of the duck and the amazing color of water, really artistic