Dive Bombing Mallard

[Randy Stout]

From this morning. -2 F when I arrived, but some sun, and dead still for a change. The birds however were really hunkered down and there was relatively little flying going on. After about an hour several groups of mallards flew in from another lake. They came in high and then dropped very steeply into the open water areas. Much harder to frame them than when coming across the lake at a lower altitude.

D4 500mm AFS f/4 @f/6.3 1/2500s ISO 1250 hand held

Post: Crop for comp, selective sharpening on bird, detail extractor on several areas of whites.

The background is a stand of trees and snowy fields about 1/4 mile away. I thought it made a rather interesting backdrop.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

It Looks like -2!
Clear, crisp, sharp and cool pose.
Has an Icy Feel to it,
Very nice.

[Rhys Marsh]

I just love this image, very icy feel with the beautiful BG and superb lighting, pose, comp. Managed to make this image handheld without your hands shaking like crazy in -2? I would have to say impressive!

[PhilCook]

Yeah to the icy ...cool feel to this, and the details etc on Mr Duck all come up to par

[David Salem]

Great landing pose with nice head and wing position. Techs look great and the hen is very sharp. I like the BG too.. You sure are committed getting out there in bellow zero temps. Well done.

[Shawn Zierman]

Excellent in all regards. I love these wintery backgrounds you achieve on your waterfowl images.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very dynamic image, great color and details. Like it a lot.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice shooting angle, excellent details and sharpness, Randy. Love the landing pose and the soft light.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, good swept back wing position, and I do like the leaning forward pose of the head. The mallard pops nicely from the winter coloured BG. I would maybe highlight the few flying droplets a little more, although they are visible.

Have I had a long day, or am I seeing a slight blue cast on the mallard.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Stuart - I did warm up the ducks colors slightly, as he was quite blue, and I agree he still looks a little cool. It rather goes with the cold day and background

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Randy, thanks for your feedback - seems like I had a long day then.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Randy,

I don't know if many could get this shot in comfortable weather, let alone -2F! Nice detail, wing position, and cool feel. As you mentioned, the backdrop adds interest to the image, love it!

Also, sent you a message regarding cold weather gear (gloves specifically).

Miguel

[Mark Itol]

Great pose, excellent detail, and a background to die for!

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent dynamic landing pose and a nice background. this is my pick of the series

[Gary Esman]

Certainly my favorite of your winter series of these guys and gals. Like the out stretched wing and head, dangling feet and excellent shooting angle. Very nice background also. Still undecided about the squarish crop.

Gary.

[Satish Ranadive]

Randy Sir:
Excellent image.Great pose with nice wings position,nice colors and superb details.
Love the color scheme.

Regards,
Satish.