Another Oddity

[David Salem]

Took this early last winter while at my local wildlife refuge. A few friends and I were set up in the morning by a pond that harriers frequently fly by. I saw a diving duck paddling across the water headed our way. I locked on early and yelled to my buddies as I was panning. By the time they had realized what I was saying, the Drake Ruddy was even with us and my MKIV was hammering away at 10fps.
Needles to say my buddies all got butt shots and I cant repeat the names they called me after I showed them this frame in the cameras LCD I hardly ever see Rudy Ducks in the air so I was very happy to have this shot in my files.
I really like the sideways body position showing off those over sized diving feet. In breeding season the feet and bill are blue on this species.

[David Salem]

Oops, forgot the techs.

1DMKIV---700mm---f5.6---ss1/3200---ISO500---HH@8:30am---30% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. Appreciated.

David

[Karl Egressy]

Great shot, David. I don't remember seeing a Ruddy BIF posted before here or on NSN which tells you that a.) I have a bad memory B.) it is very rarely shot. Love the pose, the wings up and the feet showing nicely.

[vishaljadhav]

Impressive image, the bird looks impressive in flight and captured equally nicely
Great details and superb background
Love it

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful flight shot with very nice head turn and full stretched wings,lights,nice colors,superb BG and composition.
To me chest area loos like has lack of sharpness.
Very well done.

Regards,
Satish.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose and BG, sharp.

looks like the whites were blown and too much recovery has turned them into gray, especially in the face area.

TFS

[David Salem]

Yes the whites were blown a bit and I tried to do the best I could to recover them. Once they are totally gone there is no way to recover them so this bandaid was the only fix. May have made one too many passes with the burn tool.
I opted to post it because it was a unique species IF, sharp and had a nice BG
Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.

[rajandesai]

Nice flight shot. Love that slight head turn towards the camera.
Too bad for blown highlights. But nice shot to have in anyones files. Have you tried LightRoom - Highlight and Whites sliders?

[dankearl]

You really get good focus on your ducks, David, very skilled.
Whites noted and I might desaturate the BG a tad.

[Melissa Groo]

Great wing position, sharpness, and background, David. Always pays to be ready for moments like this. Too bad on whites being blown. I think I see a sharpening halo around the tail.

[Robert Holguin]

Terrific shot.
Excellent wing position, and great comp.
Whites already mentioned.
Well done.

[PhilCook]

Great score David, so OK the techs are not perfect, but still sounds like great addition the collection especially such a clean shot with lovely wing form and eye contact with the camera. I see what you mean by the feet, they are impressive and highly detailed ...had to laugh at the ill fortune of your buddies...good one for the ego as well lol lol.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, Great capture and inflight pose. Let me guess, this was your first frame in the sequence, as he just ever so slightly going away from you. Im sure the other frames are passed you. I could be totally wrong of course. The duck pops so well from the BG, and overall, nice and sharp. Whites noted.

[David Salem]

Thanks everybody for the comments, greatly appreciated.
Stuart, you are right that was the first usable frame of the sequence. He might have been just passed me a tiny bit.
My Mark lV is funny, it takes two or three frames until it locks on real well, even if I have the Red Square right on its head. Once it locks on though, it can take some beautiful sharp shots, you just have to stay with us duck, which is the hard part. .
Thanks again

[Shawn Zierman]

Very high marks scored for the species in flight. Karl's memory is good, there are very few decent images of this species in flight on the web. I'd suggest a looser presentation for two reasons. 1. Smaller in the frame will help to lessen the impact of the blown highlights. 2. It's a tiny duck anyway :)
Really cool image sir.

[David Salem]

Thanks Shawn for the comment and suggestions. You are right on the comp for sure. It will lessen the impact of the blown highlights and probably present better, especially for print. Thanks again.