This image of a Grey Teal was created yesterday afternoon with overcast skies at Laratinga wetlands, South Australia. Teal were feeding all over the newly flooded shallows and this one was trying to get a bit of shut-eye after lunch. Canon 7D2, EF 600 IS II + 1.4TCIII, 1/1600, 1250, 5.6, prone position, Atlas bipod, CS6. Thanks for looking and your comments.
I really like here the extreme low angle and the super IQ and feather detail. As far as the composition goes I'd give room on the left side and take away from the right...if the file allows you to do so. TFS.
It's a calm and peaceful photograph, well-executed. The colourful vegetation is a nice contrast. I like it, but keep wondering what the rest of the duck (ie, bill) looks like.
What a perfectly serene scene you have created here. Your BG is lovely and the vegetation matches in color with it, as does the bird. The feather details and pose are nice. Is that a feather I see over on the left side? As an alternative crop, you may wish to consider a crop from the right and top to bring it in just a little tighter and thereby moving your duck to the right of the frame.
Hi Gerhard, excellent low perspective here, and I really like the light and IQ in this. Lovely relaxed pose, sharp where it counts, and the foliage rounds the image off nicely. I agree with Marina's crop suggestion.
Great low perspective, and the positioning in the water is perfect as well, just between the 2 sets of water plants. I agree with the crop suggestions already given. A very nice frame.
What a perfectly serene scene you have created here. Your BG is lovely and the vegetation matches in color with it, as does the bird. The feather details and pose are nice. Is that a feather I see over on the left side? As an alternative crop, you may wish to consider a crop from the right and top to bring it in just a little tighter and thereby moving your duck to the right of the frame.
Hi Marina,
Thank you for the crop suggestion, I was wondering how to crop this one as the bird is facing backwards. It is a feather drifting on the surface.
Hi Gerhard, this is gorgeous, love the posture of the bird, but with the eye open it really takes it up a few notches. The BKG colour palette is very sympathetic and works extremely well with the subject. For me, the low POV is spot on and links very well with the viewer. For me, I would have liked much less space to the right and more to the left for the subject to look into, ditto, less space above.
Subject to your ethics, I feel just the removal of the vegetation touching the body provides a cleaner 'portrait' of the subject, but your call. Techs look good, I think you could have just gone to ISO 1600 with little change to the IQ, but no deal breaker. My only thought is, the image appears to have more of a 'red/magenta' based look, which I think has masked more of the 'subtle' colours within the plumage to create more tonal range and coloration. I've cropped down to retain as much of the original IQ, but if you compare side by side, hopefully you can see my thoughts and possible direction, but it's just my take.
Hi Gerhard, it was just a thought, you were there so have a better idea of the overall conditions, the crop, still needs more to the left, but... still a cool image.