The Wood Duck is arguably the most beautiful duck in North America, and possibly the world...and even in non-breeding plumage (eclipse plumage) such as here it is still quite a handsome bird! The pickerelweed in the background made for some nice colours so giving myself a low angle and aligning the subject between a few of them added lots of interest to the image. Having said this I do hope one day to get a similar scene with a beautifully dressed breeding plumaged individual!
Canon 7D + 100-400L @400mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/6.3, ISO 400 (histogram checked), natural light, handheld, minor BG clean-up using patch and clone tools, some dodging to the lower part of the belly and burning on the bill. The right-most part of the stump extended up to touch the belly, took care of that with clone and patch tools.
NIce pose with great eye, colorful highlights in BG, sharp and well exposed.
The pose is interesting, but perhaps a bit heavy for the bird. I can see a little off the bottom as Joe mentioned, or perhaps a gentle burn in of the lowest portion to downplay its impact.
I look forward to seeing them this fall in their bright shiny duds.
Nice, Daniel. Not in love with the perch, and I think trimming it as suggested might help. I do like how you dressed up this image with those pops of color.
Good job, Dan. I like the soft textures of the plumage and how the dry weed on the stump echoes those colours and textures. Eye is lovely. I might crop a sliver from left and bottom and agree with Randy's suggestion re a slight burn on the lower part of the stump.
Daniel, a very nice look at a fine duck in fine plumage. I like the w. ducks every which way, even when they're scruffy. I might be the only person I know who prefers the female's plumage to the over-the-top craziness of the male's, but that's neither here nor there. I too will obsessively photograph these wonderducks, as they're one of the few species that's readily available to me. I like your image, I do. Shave a little off the bottom or don't, either way, it's quite nice and most soothing...
I agree about the beautiful of this duck and is really interesting to see its eclipse plumage. The wing looks soft ... probably you need more dof ? Indeed a very nice portrait Daniel, lovely the habitat perch and amazing bg.
Hi Dan, good image design, with the wood duck placed nicely in the frame. I like the pose, and the colours on both the WD, and BG, and the eye stands out so well.
I like this shot allot. I like the softness to the overall scene. Nice to see a woody in eclipse plumage. I personally like the stump with the moss he is sitting on. Classic wood duck perch.. Good job on this one..
Wood Duck Drake in Eclipse Plumage.
Reply With Quote
