Mallard Hen flight portrait

[Randall Farhy]

Another from a series of Mallards on New Market Lake in Piscataway NJ. This one took flight directly in front of me as I was standing on an elevated bank. Upper section of the far wing is clipped, foot and water drops are in original, cropped for balance. 3rd frame in burst, all of which were clear and clipped.

Canon 7D 400mm 5.6L HH Manual Mode. ISO 400 SS 1/2500 f5.6 Point Expansion AI Servo. Processing: DPP>LR5 for tweaks and selective sharps. Minor spotting to remove a few specular water droplets. Approx. 70% frame intact.

As always, C&C welcome and appreciated.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Nice one with sharp focus where it counts most, Randall! Nice eye contact too! Not sure that the crop would suit everyone but it works for me!

[Alexander Krebs]

Hi,

I really like this portrait. Well done and very good focus!

Cheers

[Randall Farhy]

Tobie and Alex, thx for the responses. Agreed, crops like this can be a tough "sell" but I still enjoy them. Perhaps taking just a little off the top creating more of a pano might work better. -R