Northern Pintail Portrait.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This is only the second male Northern Pintail I've ever photographed, and by far the better looking of the two individuals (the other, although also in "mostly" breeding plumage was quite ratty). This one is pristinely perfect! They are not rare during migration up here, but rather unusual to see in the winter...and even when common they are always way too far in flooded fields to photograph. Having one so cooperative for close-up images is such a bonus (at least for us locally). Looks like a beautiful summer day, but in reality I was lying in the snow, with lots of ice in the water beyond the frame...

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1000s., f/7.1, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, slight crop after 1 degree CW rotation, eye work.

[Joseph Przybyla]

A beauty Daniel, both the bird and your image. As always everything spot on. Thank you for sharing.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:
Based on that bow wake, he was really moving along! They are great looking ducks. I have only seen one up close a couple of times, and felt lucky to photograph him. Mine was sitting on the ice however, not swimming so nicely.

Perfect head angle, shooting angle, all good.

Cheers

Randy

[Lorant Voros]

I have never seen this beautiful duck before. Super IQ, nice low shooting angle and perfect HA. Love how it stands out of the blue back ground. Top notch as always.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent low angle with sharp details and a perfect exposure. well done Dan

[Wilhelm Waltermann]

hi Daniel, i love this low shooting angle for perfect background and soft colors. the duck looks like an eurasian teal. beautyful!
W

[Karl Egressy]

Nice detail and head turn. I'm not sure about the choice of crop. I would go for a vertical crop loosing most of the body.

[P-A. Fortin]

That is scary close for a pintail. Did you need to bait it somehow?

Everything perfect about this image. I really love the wave/bubbles in front of the chest.

[Jon Groves]

That wave out front makes this image fantastic. Nice low angle too.

[Isaac Grant]

I think this is the nicest Pintail shot I have seen. Expsoure and sharpness are perfect. I love how it stands out against the blue water. Wish I could see the rest of the bird as the front half is perfection.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks guys!

Randy, the bow wake was caused by the fast running waters of the river...the Pintail was trying its best not to back away! I got lots of neat close-ups with varying bow wake shapes and sizes, it was a fun shoot.

Forgot to add: P-A, it was rather tame and hanging out with the many Mallards. Safety in numbers I suppose :-)