Although the male mallards are more colorful, I do like the more subtle coloration of the females as well. This hen was captured yesterday at the local bird sanctuary. Sun was over the trees by then, and it was much brighter.
D500 Sigma 150-600 Sport, at 600mm. f/7.1 1/3200s, ISO 800. Hand held.
Post: crop for comp, added canvas to left, selective sharpening.
Love the angle and the lovely orange of her feet and white under the wings... great exposure. Which the head poked above the "shoulders" but hey, that's the angle... take what we get right!
p.s. I wanted to PM you Randy, but your PM box says "full"...
Randy, I like the incoming pose and the shadow of the face on the wing, but I think the face is a little dark and the eye hardly visible. I would probably remove some background noise also. Thank you for sharing
Nice light on the duck's underside Randy and looks like you almost had to move out of the way for this one! I like the wing position and the patterns created by the under-wing feathers. I agree with Juan on lightening the head a touch but no big deal for me. Composition works for me. Thanks for sharing.