Not your typical Wood Duck background. This one reminds me of my QuikCamo pattern. He was cruising along the canal, almost against the far bank. Taken several years ago.
D7000, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 800, 1/1000s @ f/7.1 manual.
Not your typical Wood Duck background. This one reminds me of my QuikCamo pattern. He was cruising along the canal, almost against the far bank. Taken several years ago.
D7000, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 800, 1/1000s @ f/7.1 manual.
Hi Bill,
Yes! QuickCamo pattern indeed :) What an interesting background. Unconventional but it really works for me, probably only because it's a wood duck in front of it.
I really like how you captured the right light to get the iridescence of the head. Whites are nicely exposed too.
Super shot Bill :)
TFS
Ross
Camo is the right word to describe the for- and background. Nice colorful image and I like the reflection too.
Think that you can get away with this Bill with a colourful Wood Duck, certainly works for me, different and all the better for it.
Keith.
I'm surprised at how remarkably well this image works. The duck is so clear against that BG...did you nee to run some type of blur to it (e.g. Gaussian blur or other?). Super details and good colours.
Very unusual Bg and it works really well in this image. Lovely detail in the birds plumage with the whole bird nice and sharp.
Thanks Daniel. This was several years ago, so I can't remember just what I did to it. But looking back at the RAW file, it appears that I only did a heavy dose of Topaz DeNoise, plus normal Levels and USM, and a crop of about 20% from left and bottom. It's possible I ran a very slight Gaussian blur to soften the BG, but it looks pretty much like the RAW file.
I almost never get images like this to work, where the subject is that close to a cluttered background, but I really love it here. Puts him right in his environment, but he is strong enough to draw my eyes right in. Reflection is a bonus. Here's something super picky, but there are four dots under his bill (in the leaves) that I would eject.
How great this is, Bill. Mostly covered above, just wanted to add the bow and stern wake add a nice touch.
Geoffrey
Hi Bill, excellent exposure on those striking colours, they really pop so well. The Wood Duck certainly is camouflaged against that leafy BG, and it works for me. Your clear reflection takes this up a few notches.
Thank you everyone. Your comments are always appreciated.
I totally agree, most of the time images like this do not work as the duck is fairly close to the background. This one somehow works, And it works real well. The background has the right amount of leaves in it and the reflection ads a lot to the image. Very nice details and exposure. Nice Bill
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Thanks David.
A different and effective image Bill! I like the sharpness, reflection, camo BG and composition. Those four dots that Grace mentioned caught my eye as well.
Congrats on this terrific image for placing in December's Theme, well deserved!