Dive, Dive, Dive! - Canvas Back Drake going deep

[Randy Stout]

This is the same fellow I posted a couple of days ago. He was very actively feeding, and would periodically dive down for 10-15 seconds and then pop up somewhere else near by.
Taken at the local bird sanctuary.

D700 600VR f/6.3 1/1600s ISO 500 Gitzo/Wimberley

Post: Selective sharpening, esp of the head. Light use of detail extractor and tonal contrast from Color Efex Pro

I was focused on the eye, but when he dove, his head came forward slightly out of the plane of focus, and is a little soft. I worked on it and am curious if folks think it is good enough to be an effective image.

I really like the hollow behind him, the flying drops and the eye just entering the water.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Gary Esman]

Randy, nice shot! I have numerous of these with different species but the eye is always just under the water. Like the raising water droplets and the reflection on the chest. Sharp and up to your standards.

Gary.

[Karl Egressy]

Great timing. The eye sowing so well in this diving pose makes the shot, Randy.

[Arthur Morris]

An interesting behavioral image of a bird that is hard to make a pretty picture of.... When the head is wet the BLACKs there are pretty much impossible. Also, these diving shots almost always exhibit subject movement blur; we do not realize how fast they go...

[Grace Scalzo]

I've tried for this perfect timing of the dive many times and never achieved it to the degree that you have here. Really a nice image, Randy. The hole that he's creating as well as the flying droplets really are icing on the cake.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, you have captured a species with fairly dark plumage, but having said that, you have managed to expose and bring out the colours very well. I like the curve of the diving pose, and just love the droplets balancing on his back. His red eye pops nicely too. Im fine with the sharpness of the head, or for that matter, the overall sharpness is good.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

randy, liked the pose. contrast a bit too high...I guess because of the light angle. good call on high SS. high SS is very important for ducks IMO.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone:

Kaustubh, I agree about the contrast. Side effect of really pushing the sharpening on the head/neck. The original is softer in contrast, but not sharp enough.

Cheers

Randy

[Sachin Saraf]

A tough task to make such an image with eye clearly visible...Great Job Randy.