Long Tailed Duck

[Karen Forderer]

This photo was taken last November. I have been looking for these ducks again this year but so far, they haven't shown up.
D300s
80-400mm at 400
1/1000 ss at f8
handheld
no flash
tonal adjustment and sharpening, cropped for composition

[dankearl]

Very nice soft look to this, and the pastel water looks great.
A bit lower would look nice if that was possible.
I like the comp a lot.

[Randy Stout]

Karen:
Very nice pose, head angle, well exposed.

Perhaps it is the wet plumage causing this, but it looks like too much noise reduction on the bird, esp. the head and neck.

I don't know this bird from personal experience however.

Cheers

Randy

[Matthew Studebaker]

nice eye contact and basic field guide pose. the water is almost distracting from this angle but I think still works.

[wendell westfall]

Nice image. I like the head angle and the tiny water droplets, and the pale blue background, too.

[Karen Forderer]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I appreciate them.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get lower as I was on the harbour pier. I'm not sure what's causing the look of too much noise reduction. I did some on the water but not on the bird itself.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karen, lovely swimming pose, and love the droplets on the back. I like the colour of the water, and maybe some selective sharpening on the head and neck will work.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Perfect HA for the swimming away pose, and I love the water beads on the back. Yes a lower angle would have been better, but I understand your predicament of being on a pier. Still a fine photo, and I wold not have prevented myself from taking the images of this beautiful duck.