Incoming Mallard

[Gary Esman]

Hello, this handsome fella was shot this morning. It was good to get out again! Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

7D, 500mm, f/4, iso:250, 1/1600.

Gary Esman.

[Randy Stout]

Gary:

Perfect angle in frame, shows both wings, nice shooting angle. Well exposed, pretty good green coverage on head, really smooth BG. Warm light.

For personal taste, I might take a sliver of a crop off the top.

I guess I won't post the mallard I was working on from this morning, this one is so nice.

Cheers

Randy

[Randy Stout]

not much else to say than stunning. Beautiful light and a nice stretch. If anything, I would apply a slither more sharpening on the head.

You would think it would be easy to get a sharp looking head on a mallard, but they are so iridescent, that even if the rest of the image is perfect, and the bill is sharp, so you know the head is in focus, it is easy for them to look out of focus.

In addition to that, they don't always respond gracefully to sharpening!


Cheers

Randy

[Gary Esman]

Gary:

I guess I won't post the mallard I was working on from this morning, this one is so nice.

Cheers

Randy

Randy, don't let this one stop you, would love to see him. By the way your timing on leaving this morning was perfect. We lost the light about 10 minutes after you left and the visitor we were waiting for did not arrive. Thanks, Gary.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Gary. That green head and those orange feet really pop! Great in-flight pose. You had nice light as well. Please correct me if I am mistaken, but it seems as if there might be a slight color cast-should the underside of the wing be whiter? That is the first thing I wondered about when the image opened.

[gail bisson]

Hi Gary,
I think this is great. The orange, green and yellow really make this image.
Beautiful wing pose and iridescent sheen.
Comp is good.
I would clone out the specular highlight on the bill.
Why an ISO of 250?
I keep reading that with the 7D one should always be at full ISO stops ie. 100, 200, 400, 800
Gail

[Gary Esman]

Hi Gary. That green head and those orange feet really pop! Great in-flight pose. You had nice light as well. Please correct me if I am mistaken, but it seems as if there might be a slight color cast-should the underside of the wing be whiter? That is the first thing I wondered about when the image opened.

Hi Julie, thanks for the critique. I will have to go back and look and the original on the whites. Now that you mention it does look a little "off white".
Thanks, Gary.

[Gary Esman]

Hi Gary,
I think this is great. The orange, green and yellow really make this image.
Beautiful wing pose and iridescent sheen.
Comp is good.
I would clone out the specular highlight on the bill.
Why an ISO of 250?
I keep reading that with the 7D one should always be at full ISO stops ie. 100, 200, 400, 800
Gail

Thanks Gail, I honestly have never done the research on this. Are you seeing a noise issue? No NR was done on the image. I did a little research after your comment and "they" do recommend full iso stops on the 7D. I will have to remember that the next low light shooting I do. So thank you for that.

Gary.

[stuart wanuck]

Nicely done

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Excellent pose, gorgeous light and nice details, Gary. I'd crop a bit from the top, but certainly works as presented. Superb image!

[dankearl]

Exposure is really nice and the comp works for me, nice job.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

That light is gorgeous and you captured the mallards colors so well. Nice pose too Gary

[Karl Egressy]

Great light, excellent pose and nice vivid colours.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Splendid flight shot, excellent details, lovely light, and great background.
Well done.

[supreet.sahoo]

Just out of the water maybe, the water drops look fresh!! The colors have come out brilliantly and the shine is something to admire ,, Quite a shot that your have got here !! A lil too centered but a great image at the end of the day...

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gary, love the splash of colours, head, bill and legs against the lighter BG. The inflight pose looks good, and I would leave the comp as is.

[Gary Esman]

Thanks all for your kind comments and advice. It has been a slow winter for shooting and it was sure fun to get back out.

Gary.