Long-Tailed Duck on Red

[gail bisson]

This will definitely not be to everyone's taste but I like it because it is different.
The red is the reflection of a large fishing boat whose hull was red. The LTD swam past the moored boat in in calm water.
Canon 1DX
600mm II and 1.4x
SS 1/1000 f 7.1 ISO 800
Small crop, cloned out a couple irregular areas in the water above the duck,levels, DE to duck, reduced the saturation in the red by 4 points, USM to JPEG
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail
I am reminded of the children's joke "What is black and white and red all over? Answer - A LTD on water and not a newspaper!

[Bill Dix]

Different it is. It's a great shot of the LTDU, and the red is striking. Also a bit overpowering to my eye, but intriguing.

[Grace Scalzo]

Certainly well photographed. The red isn't my favorite, honestly, as it clashes with the pink in the duck's bill and to my eye really overpowers your subject. Also my brain just doesn't know what to make of the color. Personal taste, so take it with a grain of salt.

[gail bisson]

No worries Grace! It is very different indeed. I am trying out new things as I am finding that all my images are starting to look the same to me - BIF with nice BG, portrait with clean BG , BIF with not so nice BG, boring portrait nice BG etc etc
Gail

Certainly well photographed. The red isn't my favorite, honestly, as it clashes with the pink in the duck's bill and to my eye really overpowers your subject. Also my brain just doesn't know what to make of the color. Personal taste, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Grace Scalzo]

Gail, Those are good problems to have! I do appreciate your willingness to explore new options and am looking forward to the results.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, I cant criticize your red water BG, as I recently posted an image with a non standard blue water BG too. . Love the low shooting angle, and the swimming angle, and HA of the LTD. The raised tail adds too. Well exposed, sharp, and maybe a bit off the bottom to just below the reflection.

[William Dickson]

Hi Gail, Love the duck its looking good, but, the red dont work for me either. Personally I think it takes the eye away from the fab duck.

[Raybel Robles]

I like it! somethings a bit of different is nice. I may tune down the red just a bit so that is not too overpowring but I do like the image.

[dankearl]

I like it.
If you feel in a rut, I would shoot landscapes or birdscapes if that appeals to you.
I got tired of birds, shot Landscapes mostly for a year or so and am finding shooting birds again fun.
I also look at it with a different eye but haven't really done anything yet that I want to post.
This would certainly be marketable if that is what you want. Completely different from other bird photos.

[Satish Ranadive]

Some thing different. I like it. Spectacular image.Every thing is superb.
Love the tail and trail behind him.

Regards,
Satish.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Hi Gail! Really like the experimentation with BG on this. Duck is beautiful... good HA and great detail.....
Just going back to my "old" (really old) film days.... Reds tend to "come forward" to a viewer's eye, so the color puts the subject in basically a "second seat" position. So, I tend to be a bit overwhelmed by the red. As a print in the right environment... may work really well tho! TFS!
Oh also very clean and I love the reflection!

[Binu John]

I like the "different look" of this frame. Excellent pose and exposure here. Though the red BG is vibrant in the frame, it makes the subject stands out IMO.

[Marina Scarr]

I'm usually good with unique, and this is not different!