Ruddy Duck

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Another one from the local zoo, this one taken this morning. She's the only Ruddy in lot (tons of Mallards, Wood Ducks, and Wigeons) and is by far the smallest one in the pond.

Thanks to Doug and another local photographer for teaching me a bit more about their behavior, allowing me to time this wing flap. I was far enough away that I could put the D800 in DX mode and increase from 4 to 6 fps, and I think that helped.

The light was a bit harsh, so some of the whites are a bit bright. All detail was lost there, and in hindsight I should have shot at a lower ISO or higher SS.

Shooting Info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR
1/2000" | f/4.5 | ISO 640

[Randy Stout]

Miguel:

Very nice colors in the water, shooting angle, flying drops, catchlight. I find the level of lost white detail to be so minor as to not impact the photo.

Ideally would like to see both wings, but not always possible.

Cheers

Randy

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Nice light here Miguel. Love the droplets and eye contact. The semi pano crop enhance the image quite good.

[Lyle Gruby]

Very nice. The light quality doesn't bother me. Water and subject look great. IQ is very nice. Only thing I see that could improve this is just a slightly better wing angle as Randy said.

[Greg Oakley]

Beautiful Miguel - I actually love the different colours in the BG. Droplets are very nice as well

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, well timed for the wing flap, and I do like the visible water droplets. Love the colours of the water. Its always difficult shooting at a zoo, as there are always distractions in the BG - seems you got it right here.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Terrific pose, Miguel and I just love the water and bg colors here. Good job taming the light and I like your comp.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent flapping pose and nice water, Miguel.

[gail bisson]

Love the colors in this one and the whites look fine to me.
Great light and low POV.
I like the comp you chose but if this was mine I would take a sliver off the RHS ( comp is such a personal thing...)
Gail

[Doug Brown]

Love the low angle and the water color. Great eye contact. Gail makes some good points about wing position and composition. The whites look fine on my monitor.