Wood Duck(s): a crop and a comp

I was sitting by a marsh the other day, hoping the Northern Shovelers would swim a little closer, when two unseen birds popped out of the reeds on the far side of the marsh. Only after I reactively got the lead bird in the lens did I realize it was a Wood Duck hen. I grabbed a few frames of her, then refocused on the trailing drake for just a single frame before they were past me. They were too far apart for the pair to fit into a single frame, and too far away for either one to hold up really well in a tight individual crop. Here's the tight crop (45% of full width) of the drake. See the next pane... (They were very close to the reeds, so I resorted to some heavy NR and negative contrast to separate the bird from the bg.)

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/2000s @ f/6.3 manual. Tripod

To avoid such a heavy crop as shown in the OP, I borrowed the hen from a previous frame and added her to the drake. C&C appreciated.

Bill,

I would take #2. I think, like you mentioned, that there just isn't high enough IQ to warrant the large crop on the first one. The second one, however, is a real winner. No evidence to my eye of the implant :)

Nice timing to get the wing position of the male with just one shot. Interesting that you put him up first, even though you mentioned she was leading when in flight ;)

Miguel

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miguel Palaviccini

Bill,

I would take #2. I think, like you mentioned, that there just isn't high enough IQ to warrant the large crop on the first one. The second one, however, is a real winner. No evidence to my eye of the implant :)

Nice timing to get the wing position of the male with just one shot. Interesting that you put him up first, even though you mentioned she was leading when in flight ;)

Miguel

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Thanks Miguel. I probably would have put her in front, but I didn't lead him enough to have the room.

BTW, the negative contrast in the bg really makes the second image look 3D in a sense. Love that.

Lovely catch and great idea to put them together. They really jump off the BG and appear sharper than in the first crop, due to the smaller size.

Agree with the points above. Both ducks definitely stand out. The male has such spectacular colors. Nice job.

I prefer the second frame to the first. The IQ is not there on the first frame. I'd consider a bit of a BG blur.

The second frame for me although I would take some off the right side.
Your PP work is really good.

Thanks everyone.