Canvas Back Cruising - The wet look lives on

[Randy Stout]

Inspired by Gary Esman's nice canvas back drake, I went to the local bird sanctuary this AM. March is generally a good month here as the waterfowl move north, and today was no exception. The birds always tend to me more tolerant now than in the fall, so I just sat down for a bit and they ignored me.

D700 600VR 1.4 TC 1/2000s f/6.3 ISO 500 Wimberley Gitzo

Post: Selective sharpening, rotation, minor crop from above, cleaned up a couple of spots in the water. Touch of detail extractor Color Efex pro to help tease a bit more out of the blacks.

I was as low as you can easily get at that location ( can shoot through the fence, but the light angle would have made that a tangential shot with lots of distortion)

A bit snug in the frame, but I believe it works.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

[Alan Murphy]

Very nice detail randy. A bit tight for me.

[dankearl]

Not too tight for me and the angle is very nice. As low as I would want to get.
Very well done.

[Satish Ranadive]

Sweet image with great details and lovely lights.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful image. Love the light, great pose, exposed very well, and I really like the water drops, and comp.
Very well done.

[gail bisson]

I like the low POV and the IQ of the image.I am OK with the composition as well.As always, the water drops add to the image. Nice silky water as well,
Gail

[Grace Scalzo]

Your techs are perfect as is your usual. Lots of interesting details. And I bet you were anticipating this comment from me.......it is too tight in the frame for my comfort level. :w3

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone:

Grace, I have more room all around except to the right (of course). The reflection was weak, so cropped that out, which influenced the crop from the top. I clipped a smidge off the left so that he wasn't quite so centered left to right. If I have time tonight I will throw up the original, so people can have a go at the crop! Plus, I rotated it a bit and lost a little canvas that way!

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, well exposed, tack sharp, and that lovely red eye really pops. Describing your shooting position, Im fine with this angle, and I do like the droplets. I also feel this is a bit tight, but look forward to your original to see what you had to play with. :w3

[Gary Esman]

Excellent image quality here. Nice water droplets and beautiful Michigan water. Really like the amount of detail in the drakes back. Nice job.

Gary.

[Randy Stout]

Here is the original, uncropped version of the file. My crop was driven by the poor reflection. I could easily clean that up a bit and leave most of the room, but open to your thoughts.

Cheers

Randy

[Grace Scalzo]

Randy, Such a fine, clear image. My 2 cents is to deal with the bottom just like you did in your original post and then leave the rest as is (no more cropping). Will be interested in what others have to say.

[Karl Egressy]

Amazing shot of this beauty duck, Randy. I would sit around for days to get a shot of this duck as yours.
Great light and details. ( One of my nemesis birds)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Randy, excellent angle, details, exposure, HA...loved the ripples. I'd take off just a bit from the bottom. In these situations( duck too big in the frame), many times, I use non-center AF point ( and Ai servo) to get the composition right in the camera. They move a lot...focus-on-eye-recompose does not always work. And they change their angles a lot.... I always have my thumb on the Af point selector joystick. Since I dont have that many points, its easier I guess :-) I choose AF point based on composition and stop down so the DOF is taken care of. When they are further away, its much simpler.