Mandarin Duck (drake)

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Lake Mirror in Lakeland, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering +2/3 EV ISO 2800 AWB
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Grace Scalzo]

Joe, the colors are beautiful and nice sharpness in the eye area. I'm not familiar with this species, but I thought that the whites would be whiter and this looks a bit gray. (Maybe brought down in Post?) I don't mind the narrow depth of field, but do wish that the fluffly head feathers at the base of his head were in focus. From your techs, it looks as if you could have traded shutter speed for depth of field by stopping down.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Grace, as it is said, there is a story behind every image. The lake where this image was captured is a inner city lake. In the 1930's under WPA a concrete promenade and wall was built circling the lake. There are a few stairways leading from the walkway to the water of the lake. This duck was at the bottom of one of the stairways on a small concrete ledge juts above the water level. I had to go to the bottom stair just above the water, crouch as low as possible and lean over the water to get the angle I wanted. I was very unsteady and the bird kept moving it's head. So between my unsteadiness and the bird moving I opted for the fast shutter speed. I might have been able to lower the shutter speed but opted for this because of the conditions. I don't think I could have stopped down more because the bird was in the shade and then I would have really been boosting the ISO.

I appreciated your viewing my image and commenting, thank you for doing so.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful colors. Great detail where it's sharp. I do wish for more DOF, but as you've said, the circumstances didn't permit it.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Grace and Bill, thank you for viewing and commenting. Very much appreciated...

[Grace Scalzo]

Thank you, Joe, for offering your explanation and answering my question. Your approach makes sense now that I know the circumstances.