Wood duck duckling. small in frame

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

40D. 400f5.6L at f/6.3. iso 800. 1/400s. fill flash. removed catchlight from eye. beanbag support.

I had gone to this spot hoping for a Tricolored heron that did not show up. Neither did the sun. Had some nice time with a few Wood duck ducklings while waiting. IQ not very good here as the SS was not good enough for the duckling that was walking in this shallow water. The flash did freeze the motion a bit though. No wind and water very clean due to recent heavy rains. not much clean up needed here.

All comments welcome.

[Bill Dix]

Cute little feller. Nice soft feeling to the image suits the subject. I also like the placement in the frame. (Might have wished for the ripple to be completed on the right, but that would have put him too centered, so I like it as is.) Beautiful silky water/bg.

[Marina Scarr]

Very powerful image!

[dankearl]

Kaustubh
I think this is really good!
It has a melancholy feel to it, the angle, BG and pose is as Marina stated, very powerful.

[Josh Clark]

I'd be happy with this image. The size of the duckling in comparison to the frame gives a nice sense of place. Like the water droplets on him, and IQ good for me.

[Randy Stout]

Kaustubh:


Minor tech issues aside, I think the image works really well! Nice colors, subject, low shooting angle.

Nice job of making lemonade!

Cheers

Randy

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Superb image , Kaustubh . Love the low angle , the cute duckling and the sharp eye here . The water on the body adds a lot . A slight green cast is showing up on my monitor though .

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colours.

[PhilCook]

The extra shallow dof works perfectly to isolate the bird from the green haze, a good character shot with such a worried look on its face....we have this species aplenty here as well

[Ofer Levy]

This is sweet. Here is another option with some off the top and a slight levels and colours adjustment.
What do you think?

[christopher galeski]

nice peaceful image,good low angle,ofer's post puts the imageup a notch.thanks.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Excellent mood, low angle and fg/bg.
I'd go something between yours and Ofer's in both, comp and colors.
Lovely image and what a cute ducking.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Ofer, thx for taking the time. I like the colors in your repost. I prefer the extra room at top in mine though. Personal preference.

thx everyone for all the comments. I have a number of shots that I haven't yet processed. been really busy.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I too prefer Ofer's colours/added puch but prefer the original comp. Very cute, we get a sense of isolation although mom was likely not far away...

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Kaustubh! I like the soft feel, water drops, low angle and colours.