Black-Bellied Whistling Duck in Flight

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Shot at the local [retention] pond after we got a lot of rain a couple of months back. I was shooting a pair that were swimming in the pond when I heard this third one come in. I have the AE-L button on the back of the camera programed so that it goes straight to Auto ISO (if you have a Nikon and want to learn this neat trick, just send me a PM - I can't live without it now!). Thus I was able to get a fast enough shutter speed to semi-freeze the bird. Otherwise I would have been shooting at 1/125".

Comments, critiques, and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!

Nikon d300s | 70-200 + 2x
400mm | 1/1000" | f/6.3 | ISO 1600

[Karl Egressy]

I love the pose and colours in the bird and the beutiful background, Miguel.

[Alan Murphy]

Nice comp. The mid tones could be darker IMO.

[Melissa Groo]

Nice job, Miguel. I really like the pose. Agree on pulling down the mid tones a bit. I like the background a lot too but also think that could be toned down just a little and would also try another round of sharpening. Sounds like a good set up you have with that auto ISO.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, well placed in the frame, and a typical extended neck pose for the incoming landing. Well exposed on the darker plumage, and just love the colourful BG, although I would tone it down a touch more. I agree, a little selective sharpening on the head will work.

[Arthur Morris]

I generally do not like this pose but with the blur it actually works for me. (Sorry Peter!!!). Love the neck and the BKGR. As above a bit of selective sharpening of the head and face would work well here.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks for all of the advice guys! I'm still getting used to how much to sharpen as I don't want to overdo it, but I can see how this one could definitely use more.

[Satish Ranadive]

Miguel,Every thing has been said about the excellent image.
Like the pose,colors and BG. Agree with others about sharpness.

Regatds,
Satish.

[Arthur Morris]

Miguel. I usually selectively sharpen the bird's on the master file with unsharp mask at 15/65/0. Then I create a 1024 wide JPEG and sharpen that with Unsharp Mask at 120-140/.3/0.

[Sanjeevprakash]

Well captured shot of the Duck,Miguel.The duck is sharp.Looks like the TC 2X combo works well with your 70-200.

[Ken Watkins]

Great capture of the moment, I cannot help but agree on a tad more sharpening and perhaps toning down the BG a little in particular the bottom.

[Frank Schauf]

Nice flight pose and bg colours, Miguel.

[Josh Clark]

Good choice of crop on this one, fitting for the motion of the image. Ditto on darkening the image slightly.