Hen Shoveler

[David Salem]

Even though she dose not have the striking colors of her mate, she is still very beautiful in her own right. Caught this hen leaving a pond a few weeks ago and I focused on her instead of the drakes. Hope you like her.

1DX---840mm---f7.1---ss1/3200---ISO800---HH from truck @ 8:15am---30% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.

David

[dankearl]

Just terrific Flight photo again, Dave.
All that water dropping off give a nice sense of lift off.

[David Salem]

I posted a looser comp but I decided to add the tighter one for your suggestions. What do you like better and why? Thanks

[Andrew Merwin]

Lovely image. I like the water droplets. I prefer the OP because she needs space to move up. The RP seems too tight to me. TFS.

[John Rowell]

I also prefer the original post as it gives some room for the duck. At this takeoff speed, it just seems to cramped up in the repost. Focus and colors are terrific and the background really compliments the bird. Excellent job.

[John Robinson]

I,ll echo the above comments. definately the first for me. Lighting superb
John R

[Karl Egressy]

Great flight shot, David. I also prefer the original post for the same reason mentioned earlier.

[gail bisson]

I prefer the OP.
I love the color palette.
Great light and IQ as well. Love the water drops.
I might be tempted to clone out the specular highlights on the legs but not a big issue,
Gail

[Glenn Conlan]

The light was special that day, great flight shot shows that special feather color of the hen


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty David! I like the wing position, details, water drops, IQ and looser composition in the OP.

[christopher galeski]

nice flight image,like the OP best,secon image too tight in the frame for me.

[Dave Johnson]

Great lift off shot David. Love the complimentary colours and water droplets.

I prefer the original as the second looks too cramped. Saying that though if the amount of space top and bottom where reversed (more above, less below) I think it would work.

[Ashleigh Scully]

I love the first one. Great shot and the water droplets are amazing.

[Raybel Robles]

What a beautiful image! I like the first one better aswell! Superbly done!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow, what an appealing image of this hen shoveler!! Everything came together for you here. The OP is much stronger compositionally...but in that OP I would remove the single water drop that has drifted up into the darker part of the BG at right edge. Congrats on a spectacular photo!!

[John Stuelpnagel]

Beautiful image. I too like the original post. In fact, I might try even less cropping than the original post to give the bird more room...particularly with the attractive background in this photo.

[Holger Leyrer]

Excellent flight shot. Perfect in every way. I prefer the OP-Image

[Greg Oakley]

Awesome stuff David! I definitely prefer the original crop

[Miguel Palaviccini]

David, nice to see the female of this species in such a great pose. I'm a fan of the original.

I'll be in So. Cal early next month and I hope to get some opportunities like these!

[David Salem]

Thanks very much everyone for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

Miguel, PM me if you are interested in hooking up while you are down here. Thanks for the comment also.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, your OP rocks. There's more space around her, and I like that we can see more of the BG too. Great sharpness, good wing position, and the droplets certainly adds that something extra. Well captured.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Fantastic take off, Dave. Just love the pose and the perfect head turn. The flying droplets and the tad bit of motion blur on the wing tips makes this so dynamic. Killer techs. Excellent image. Another vote for the OP comp.