Goosander

[nick clayton]

Goosander, Lincoln, Lincolnshire 27/11/11

Canon 7D
Sigma 500mm f4.5
1/500 @ f4.5
+2/3 EV
Aperture priority
ISO 800
Pattern

Levels
Curves
Saturation
Selective Color
Nik Software color Efex Pro 4 - Tonal Contrast - subject only, Dfine 2.0 - background only
Photoshop USM - subject only

Canvas added to front and back of image

[Randy Stout]

Nick;

I like the color palette here, the leaning forward pose.

The body looks quite blue. Is that their normal color,of from the lighting, time of day?

I might soften the curving line in the upper right area of the frame. It draws the eye towards the area of the canvas extension.

Cheers

Randy

[vishaljadhav]

Lovely image, the colors are wonderful and a classic bird pose, Second Randy on the curve

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Nick. A beautiful mix of blues and yellows! I also like the low shooting angle and the alert pose. I agree with Randy about the curving line - a minor point, but easy to fix. This is very nicely done!

[Frank Schauf]

Great picture, nice deep shooting position and great eye contact.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Nick,

The combination of the shooting angle, colors, details, and extended head makes this one of my favorites from all images this week!

I've never seen one of these guys, but the back does seem a bit blue. Definitely a neat color scheme if that's the way they look! If you have more, I look forward to seeing them.

Were you in a boat/canoe for this image? How'd you get so low?

Miguel

[PhilCook]

Liking the raked angled posture in this one, great low take as well and such a clear eye. Composed in the frame nicely and focus is very good. Cant really comment on the color being too blue or not, but it looks eye catching as is anyway especially against the very uniform and golden backdrop. A really eye catching bit of photography Nick

[dankearl]

Nice low profile.
Was the duck in the shade?
That is usually the case of bluish caste.
You should be able to tweak that and also a bit of eye sharpening.

[nick clayton]

Thanks for all your helpful comments. I have selected the back and the blue bits of water and reduced the saturation in the blues. I have worked on the right hand side with the clone tool set at 100% and 30%; I have also used the burn tool as this edge looked a bit light. Yes Dan the Goosander was in the shade and is what probably caused the blue shade to the back. Pleased you liked it so much Miguel, I only managed a few images as it was swimming away quite fast and this was the only image worth keeping, I was lying on my belly on the edge of the lake, not much higher than the water level.

[Gen Benjamin]

Lovely imag, background, lean foward and colors & espeially the eye really set this image apart from the bunch. I think the repost with the clone ed out curved line is excellent addition to this image.
Gen

[Robert Holguin]

Terrific shot.
Love the colors of the background, great pose, excellent low shooting angle, and great IQ.
Repost looks better.
Well done.

[David Salem]

Nice shot Nick. Great low angle and excellent Detail and exposure. Like the re-post better too. Nice work.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the sweet colors in the water, pose is great. good job with the low angle, there is a little bit of noise in the darker plumage.

[nick clayton]

Thanks for the comments, slight noise well spotted Arash!

[Marina Scarr]

Very well done on the RP, Nick. This is really a striking bird and image. Your low angle makes it even more powerful. I was ok with the BG in the OP.

[nick clayton]

Thanks Marina, I was also ok with the background on the original posting.