Ring-necked Duck

[Michael Liskay]

Rainy day on Sunday at the Ridgefield NWR, but a good day for ducks, this Ring-necked and Hooded Merganser (which I may post later).

Canon 1D Mk IV, 500 f4 IS + 1.4X TC, ISO 1600, f6.3, 1/640, 0ev

[dankearl]

Nice job to get this low at Ridgefield.
The head looks like it needs a bit of sharpening.

[Don Nelson]

Mike
If this were mine - I'd crop it differently. Bird way too high in frame for my taste, and the blue stripe of water on left draws my eye away from the bird.
Bird's head is plenty sharp, but you could use a contrast mask. (I've used 15/60/0)
And I've extended the top of the canvas using content aware fill.

If I had the raw, I'd spend a little time masking the bird and removing the blue water areas just behind the head (top and back of head).
but I didn't so this is just an example of what I'm suggesting. Your efforts will be superior since you have the raw.
109452

[Don Nelson]

Mike
Your original post was only 731x563
I'd suggest you post at longest dimensions 1024 x or 800y.
It'll make a difference -- the repost i just made loses details upon repost - I just noted your original repost size
(So treat repost as example, not final quality which you'll need raw to start with)

[Robert Holguin]

Real nice shot. I really like the head angle, exposed well, and love the green water. I would crop a little below the reflection.
Well done.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice shot, good exposure and tone range. I think the repost is highlighting a point I would suggest, i.e if the image had been taken from a lower angle it would have looked more impactive.