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bufflehead # 3
man these guys are bright... I was belly down at a local pond when this guy came in. I waited as he watched me. He was attracted by the shutter noise as I was taking a few shots. When really close (beyond focusing range), it got spooked and flew off. This image was taken as it was coming towards me. light was bright... hope you like it.

comments and suggestions welcome
7D, 700mm @ f/8, 1/4000, ISO 400
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Wow, Enrique, I love this. I struggled with these guys at Bosque in December and didn't come away with a single one I was happy with (I either burnt out the whites or underexposed the head). You really picked up that irridescence here.
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Wow, what a beautiful bird! Never seen one of these before. I can see that you've battled with the whites but the colors are beautiful. It might be worthwhile to play with highlights and mid tones in pp to try and bring in a little bit of contrast in the whites, but to me it's beautiful as is. Beautiful BG and eye contact! Well done!
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Originally Posted by
Tobie Schalkwyk
Wow, what a beautiful bird! Never seen one of these before. I can see that you've battled with the whites but the colors are beautiful. It might be worthwhile to play with highlights and mid tones in pp to try and bring in a little bit of contrast in the whites, but to me it's beautiful as is. Beautiful BG and eye contact! Well done!
yeah, you are tight Tobie. I reprocessed this image from RAW + added a color balance layer (more blue)... what you think?
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Originally Posted by
Enrique Patino
I reprocessed this image from RAW + added a color balance layer (more blue)... what you think?
You definitely have more definition in the white parts now (I can hear Rachel saying 'You have a blue cast...'
). Just be careful of the blue tint as on the back of its head. It was there in the OP too, but not so prominent.
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Excellent image of a spekky duck! Well exposed whites and nice details. The reflection is a bouns!
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Simply gorgeous, love the iridescent colors! The RP is close, just be careful of the "glowing greys" occurring on the body beneath the head and forward of the wing. Perhaps local brush work to adjust shadows/highlights? Also, personal preference-I'd go extreme pano and remove most of the reflection-it's blurry to the point of distraction. Is there any room above? Another locally skittish species I'd have to borrow from NASA's inventory to capture like this.
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Forum Participant
Wow the colours you have on the head are great. I think the blue tint at the back of the head is CA which you may be able to adjust on your RAW file.
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Really nice work Enrique on this tough little guy to expose properly! Nice low angle, eye contact and color capture. The background is pleasing as well.
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BPN Member
Man o man, I don't think I've ever seen a Buffie image that shows the head colors better than this.
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Love the pose and colors. Well done, Enrique.
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Publisher
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Publisher
ps: In retrospect, I may have reduced the contrast a bit too much and I missed a bit in the upper right when I filled in the canvas after rotation...
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Beautiful and colorful image.
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Thanks for your input. Will follow up when I get back from my trip
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Artie, I would very much like to know the details if you have time, or when you have time. Thanks!