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Taken at Estero Llano Grande, Texas, in November. I'm not sure what species this is, since some of the key ID features are hidden; possibly a young female Mallard? I've added a bit of canvas on three sides. I was close enough that I should have stopped down to f/8 to get a little more DOF on the head, but I was fighting dim light (and wasn't thinking about it).
D500, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 2000, 1/320s @ f/6.3 manual; fill @ -1.0
I love the feather detail, and the floating feathers in LLC. The peeking pose is fun, too. The oof mass in LRC is unfortunate, but unavoidable in this case if you wanted to keep the duck parallel to the sensor.
Bill:
Just enough eye showing to make the peek a boo pose work, fine detail in the feathers, agree about the DOF issue, but not a deal breaker here, for me.
Cheers
Randy
Well spotted Bill - by both you and the duck. Detail is excellent and handling of tone and colour are up to your usual high standard. I would have liked a bit more on the right but can see the perch was probably not going to cooperate. Thanks for sharing.
Nice detail on the duck. The eye is showing just enough to make this one.
Nice Image. I agree with all the comments.
Excellent Feather details and Good choice of using fill flash
Haha! I love your title! You get bonus points for that!
The feathers floating in the water add a lot to the shot.
I am not crazy about the OOF rocks in RLC .
Love the hint of green from scapular feathers just peeking through,
Gail
PS> Just looked at the OOF rocks again and you could easily clone out the top half which would really reduce "the visual weight" of this area
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Good idea, Gail. It didn't even occur to me. Here's a repost.
Well seen and nicely presented Bill. I see where Gail is coming from but the rocks are OK with me as they curve nicely around the body.
The little feather in the water adds a nice touch
Mike
In the case of those floating feathers the room is a bit tight in the LLC. Agree about LRC. But a lovely sleepy pose and some nice details.
Love the sneaky "I am watching you" look. :)
TFS
