Woodie in flight

[dankearl]

Taken early this morning at a somewhat shaded pond with a pretty large year round flock of Wood Ducks.
I have been waiting for weeks to get good enough light at this pond for a flight photo.
Still a bit dark but I liked this one.

1/2500, f6.3, iso1600, 300 w/ 2x tc, D800, Handheld.

DSC_4686bp2.jpg

[Doug Brown]

Hi Dan. The habitat is nice. But the head is somewhat soft as presented. Critical focus looks to be on the rear portion of the bird. Also, getting a good exposure on a Wood Duck is tough when they're side lit like this.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice incoming pose, agree looks like the focus was on the tail. side light was not helping you here.

[PhilCook]

Eye popping color Dan, yes to sadly a little soft, I might also9 be inclined to crop a little off the top to remove some of the bright green reeds

[dankearl]

Thanks for the comments.
I did no sharpening on the bird, so I could probably get the head sharper.
I would never remove the green reeds, I might as well take a sky photo.
I cannot get a better sun angle at this pond, I probably should have just kept this for myself.
I am trying to get as many duck species in flight as I can for my own little project and this is the best place
for Wood Ducks in my area. Just poor lighting for flight photos due to the woods that surround the pond.
Thanks for the honest critiques!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dan - too bad about the light at this pond because I've really been enjoying the different species you've been posting. Unfortunately, I agree that this just isn't up to your usual high standards.

TFS,
Rachel

[nick clayton]

A nice looking bird with some good colour and you did well to get a flight shot. As already mentioned though it is critical to get the eye sharp Dan.