Ruddy Duck Drake

Canon 7D
Canon 500/4 + 1.4x
1/640 sec f/7.1 ISO 400

Viveza 2
CS6 - cleaned some blobs of the water and sharpened. A little crop for comp.
NR on BG with Noiseware Pro


Attachment 127679

Ian, what a terrific opportunity. These ducks in breeding plumage are so beautiful. I would level this image, remove a catchlight, give him a little more room all around, and back off on the sharpening. you'll see a halo by the black head feathers and all around it looks a but crunchy. That said, I wish this one was in my files.

Thanks for the thoughts, Grace. I've opened it up a bit, leveled it, and backed off on the sharpening. What do you think?

Attachment 127685

Great light and detail, liking a lot the droplets, the light particularly on the blue bill is very nice as is the water texture. Re post has improved, but I wonder if it is a little big in frame as the water ripples seem a little chopped off

Way to get up close and personal!
I like the repost, a very look at this duck.

Thanks ...


Oh, I meant to ask Grace ... why remove a catchlight? These were natural - no flash.

Hi Ian,
Love the repost! Good work. As for the catchlight, it's a personal thing...I know that one was from the sun and one is from the water, but to me it makes the eye look muddy. Again, tho, do what looks right to you.

Excellent find and nicely done. The repost is an improvement.

Ruddy Ducks are beautiful ducks and that blue bill is spectacular. Interesting position. Good repost.

WOnderful image Ian, the repost i mean it improves a lot over the OP
i feel its a bit tight and if the full ripple of water was included it would have taken it over the top.

However that said its a lovely clear image of this bird