Barnegat Hen

[Arthur Morris]

This hen Harlequin Duck was photographed on Monday afternoon past at the Barnegat Jetty with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/40 sec. at f/11. (You gotta love four-stop IS).

Covered the o-o-f head of a male with a mussel Quick Mask. NIK Color Efex Pro 4.0 on the duck only at 50% follow by Detail Extractor.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

I am setting here in the dark, no power, but the 3G ipad saves the day.

Excellent feather detail, sharp, well exposed. Nice eye and like the water BG. A little steep shooting angle, but I suspect that location has some real limitations in that regard.

Would enjoy seeing the original with the male intact, curious how you handled his eviction. Mussel quick mask, I like it! :t3

Cheers

Randy

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Arthur! I like the bed of Mussels, details, exposure and BG.

[Bob Pelkey]

This is a great example of why I find beach photography especially interesting. The image is almost surreal.

[Bill Dix]

Very serene. Lovely detail. Might have wished for a lower angle, but that's not always easy at the jetty without taking your life in your hands. Is Mussel Quick Mask one of the new features of Color Efex Pro? Gotta get it.

[Arthur Morris]

Here is a JPEG that represents the converted RAW file.

[Arthur Morris]

Very serene. Lovely detail. Might have wished for a lower angle, but that's not always easy at the jetty without taking your life in your hands. Is Mussel Quick Mask one of the new features of Color Efex Pro? Gotta get it.

Thanks Bill et al. I was sitting on the lowest rock around :). I like staying out of the water there in winter....

[Randy Stout]

Artie:
Very nice replacement. My only thought is that when you flipped the background from right to left to fill in the evicted male, that the diagonal mussel with second one on top of it like a hat is distinctive enough that it does tip off the viewer that something was done.

Cheers

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Artie: Very nice replacement. My only thought is that when you flipped the background from right to left to fill in the evicted male, that the diagonal mussel with second one on top of it like a hat is distinctive enough that it does tip off the viewer that something was done. Cheers, Randy

Your critique would have had more validity if you had spotted it before I showed you where the work was done :). I did warp and transform the layer a bit.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

I did see the two diagonal ones in your original picture, and figured out what had been done, since the odds of them being exactly at the same angle, just flipped, are astronomical. Guess I will have to be bolder next time, and state my thoughts. I tend to be too subtle at times. Part of the reason I asked to see the original was to comfirm my impression of how you did it!
:bg3:

I think if you darkened the light tip of one of the diagonal shells, that I would never have noticed it the first time around.

Cheers

Randy

[Melissa Groo]

Love this portrait--the soft light, the colors, but most of all the mix of textures with the fine brown feathers and those sharp looking mussels.

[Arthur Morris]

Artie:

I did see the two diagonal ones in your original picture, and figured out what had been done, since the odds of them being exactly at the same angle, just flipped, are astronomical. Guess I will have to be bolder next time, and state my thoughts. I tend to be too subtle at times. Part of the reason I asked to see the original was to comfirm my impression of how you did it!
:bg3:

I think if you darkened the light tip of one of the diagonal shells, that I would never have noticed it the first time around.

Cheers

Randy

Likely story. :S3: The timid are always left behind. Next time nail me first and ask questions later.... It could be fixed but....

[Andrew McLachlan]

Nice capture Arthur...I love the mussel foreground. I love mussels in a garlic butter sauce :S3:

[Alan Murphy]

Perfect HA and killer detail.

[Karl Egressy]

Great detail, HA and composition, Artie.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Artie, clever work down below, would have never picked it up. Excellent detail throughout the hen, and just love the horizon refelected in the eye.

[Ofer Levy]

Getting such a sharp image with 1120mm lens at 1/40th of a second is pretty amazing stuff!!!!

[Sachin Saraf]

Wonderful Image Artie and that truly is an amazingly sharp image at 1/40 and 1120mm...I have been there and I know how tough it is to get lower angle...I did not even try going as low as you went here....and you managed to get the BG pretty nice considering the waves are always rough around where this one is sitting...

[Grace Scalzo]

Glad to see that the hen of this species was not overlooked. A real beauty. Love the detail, her relaxed state, the mussel bed, and even the way the wave at the top loosely frames her.

[Don Lacy]

Very nice image Artie the water drops on the Hen are a nice extra touch.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, what an interesting perch. makes all the difference. great details and exposure as always. PP work superb.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!! Excellent image. Love mussles, detail is just amazing, and love the water in the background.
Very well done.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all for your more than kind comments; they are greatly appreciated. I am glad that she proved to be a popular lady! Whatever you do, do not eat as much holiday food as I did tonight....