Ruddy Duck

[Daniel A. Romero]

Hello everybody, I haven't posted anything in a long while, but here I am.

Canon Eos 1000D
Lens = Tamron 80-210 f4.5-5.6 at 111mm
F-stop = 4.5
Shutter speed= 1/800th of a second
I've done extensive cropping, saturation correction, sharpening, and noise-reduction.

[Ian Cassell]

Hi Daniel! All the Ruddy Ducks I've seen around here have big white patches on their face - yours is very pretty with the black face. I like the wing position. I would be inclined to crop some off the top as the vegetation in the BG is a bit distracting.

[Leigh Cojocar]

I love how they have the blue bills.

I also find the BG distracting. And I'm not sure but I would maybe show a little less of the top and more of w/e was on the right.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Daniel,

This looks like a great location (blind)....and love the ducks! The color is amazing and the action looks great...

Here are a couple of opportunities...as mentioned the negative space above the subject does little to help and I wonder if a horizontal crop might benefit the scene. Considering the duck is moving forward having space in front would give him a place to go. Also, notice the large catch light in the eye...that is motion blur. I know the subject was moving and that adds to the motion and softness of the image...consider panning and a faster shutter to grab more detail...also the larger the crop the more we affect IQ.

Glad you posted and this was a great moment with nature..still amazed by the beautiful colors....keep em coming.

One more thing: do you have a TC to extend the focal length and help to reduce the crop factor...nice capture for 111 MM.