Shot in local slough Nd. I have been busy shooting Wood ducks the last few weeks. I have shot thousands of frames. It has been absolutely fabulous. At times I have had as many as twenty five males. Unfortunately I have had five females and no babies. My slough is long and narrow over a quarter mile in length.
So it gives me a chance to see the ducks coming. I have even got some flight shots. Flight shots not so good from inside the blind. I have chosen a pinch point with some good colors from the trees and cattails with some open water with blue color so I have some options depending on the path they choose.
Shot from my floating blind. Processed with Dpp 4 Topaz, Photoshop. Comments and critiques appreciated.
Canon R5
Rf 400 2.8L
1/1250
ISO 1250
06-02-2023, 01:22 PM
Andreas Liedmann
Hi Kevin a lovely shot with the bow and the ripples behind the subject , overall comp is working well as is the calling behavior .
Light is awesome ... has there been again some fog ???
The whites do look a bit greyed out ... like having been recovered ??!!! ( When looking in PS )
DOF falls a bit short , IMHO , to me the side is the sharpness point and does fall off very quickly ???!! At least I do see it that way
Still a nice frame
TFS Andreas
06-02-2023, 04:16 PM
kevin Hice
Yes your right on the fog, I have had a lot at this location as it sits low in a coulee. Your right on the whites wish I could handle them better. I have been burning them some along with a curves adj. Focal point is right on the eye. but side does look a bit sharper.
06-02-2023, 10:18 PM
Andreas Liedmann
If the whites have been blown ... and you are not able to recover them in DPP perfectly , you are lost :w3.
06-02-2023, 10:22 PM
kevin Hice
Thanks Andreas
06-03-2023, 03:26 PM
Jonathan Ashton
Kevin doesn't your camera show blinkies in the viewfinder or rear view? I like the shot but not the crop, the daks look a little muddy to me.
06-03-2023, 05:39 PM
Arthur Morris
Hey Kev, If you see this, please send me the raw file :-)
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06-04-2023, 08:50 AM
kevin Hice
Sent the Raw file Artie.
06-04-2023, 10:23 AM
Volkan Akgul
hi Kevin,
very good photo...
congratulations.
ı am waiting Artie Raw
06-05-2023, 05:58 AM
Arthur Morris
1 Attachment(s)
Thanks for sending the RAW file. They whites do not looked grayed out to me. They look toasted. RawDigger shows that the whites are indeed over-exposed in the raw file with 18,000 OvExp pixels in the GREEN channel and 1000 in the RED channel. AS indicated by the rose-red OvExp warnings on the highlights. Saving those is theoretically impossible. Your were right with this species to push the exposure far to the right to reveal the detail in the dark tones, you went just a bit too far.
with love, artie
06-05-2023, 09:10 AM
kevin Hice
Thanks Artie you are correct I have been pushing to the right to get the colors on the head exposed for good color. Again it depends where the bird is if it is somewhat shaded just a few feet away or ten seconds earlier . Hard to keep a watch on the histogram and get the right exposure when the subject is constantly moving.
I'm constantly switching on different birds in other areas like the female. So I get some over exposed but also some under exposed.
06-06-2023, 11:06 AM
Dorian Anderson
As pretty as is the setting and pose, the some of the whites do look toasted. Getting the exposure right on this species in direct sun is really tough; you gotta slit the difference between blowing the white and underexposing the darks and missing the iridescent colors. The golden water is the best thing about this shot. I also like the waves the body is generating. Those add some nice texture. I like the reflection and the crop.