Blue Winged Teal

[Raybel Robles]

It took me many days of work in the same pond and a help from a Pied-billed Grebe to get this photo. The Blue-winged Teals here are very shy and usually really hard to get close to.

This is one female from a flock of about 7 (3 males, 4 females) that are currently in a pond close to my house. They were all chased away by the Grebe and that’s when they flew by me and I managed to get the photo. I was hoping to get the male since they are much more colorful but nonetheless I'm happy to have been able to get a photo of this species.


Not much Post Processing work. Cropped for composition, noise reduction to background applied and a bit of burning on the duck's face.


D7100 | 300mm + 1.4tc | f4 | 1/1000s | ISO 250

[Fred Johns]

Nicely done - I like that background, is that water or vegetation?

[Raybel Robles]

Nicely done - I like that background, is that water or vegetation?

Hi Fred,


The background is water with the trees reflecting on it. Thanks for your comment!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Raybel, great flying pose, and nicely separated from the water BG. I do like the texture of the water, and if anything, I would take a bit off the bottom, as she is flying upwards. Maybe a bit off the RHS too.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice flight pose captured, well done.

[Arthur Morris]

Spectacular where I come from! Sharp, perfect downstroke wing position and a background from heaven. Is the background pretty much as it was out of the camera??? It looks as if the water was done at a very slow shutter speed....

Maybe a bit off the bottom. But I love it as is.

[Randall Farhy]

Outstanding in flight capture, a just reward for time well spent! The way the bird just pops off the silky bg makes it something extra special.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Love it as is!
The look of the water reminds me of a painting. Very good eye contact and the downstroke wing position makes for a very interesting image. Thanks for sharing.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Awesome flight angle and pose. Killer bg. Another vote for a bit off the bottom. Oh man, what an image.

[Raybel Robles]

Spectacular where I come from! Sharp, perfect downstroke wing position and a background from heaven. Is the background pretty much as it was out of the camera??? It looks as if the water was done at a very slow shutter speed....

Maybe a bit off the bottom. But I love it as is.

Hi Arthie,

Thank you so much for your kind comment. The water was like that straight from the camera. I can't say for sure what created the effect, but i think it may be due to me swinging the camera from one side to the other as I was tracking the bird.


and thanks to everyone else who also comment on the image an suggesting to crop a bit from the bottom.


Ray

[Troy Lim]

Great image, the BG is killer. Amazing tracking ability.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image. Very nice pose with down stroke wing position, nice colors , composition.Love HA and eye in beautiful lights.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Ray! I like the flight angle, IQ, sharpness, water texture and colour. I like the composition as is.

[David Salem]

Very nice flight shot of this hen blue wing. She stands out nicely against that green BG and I like the detail you captured. Well done