Female Bufflehead taken this morning at a local urban pond.
Light is so low in January in the Pacific NW, I shot with my bare 300 today
and used as low a SS as possible to make images.
I thought the low SS worked pretty well here.
Dan, good job using your resources to get this lady on canvas. Generally I really like IF wings on ducks but appreciate the soft, artistic feel here.
This one seems to have an overwhelming cyan/magenta hue to it. I pulled it into LR to take a look but couldn't really see how it was off so maybe that's just the way it was; water reflection or something.
Thanks Brian,
The color caste is the water in this very small pond in this city park in Portland designed by Frederick Olmsted of
Central park fame. It is in heavy tree shadow with duckweed and these days, Tear gas....It has Buffleheads, Ringnecks, and Mergansers too dark to shoot..
It is what it is, I try a lot of ways to correct, but it always comes back to this....
As someone who shoots loons early in the morning in dark, quiet areas, I appreciate the feel of this one. I am fine with the low shutter speed here, gives it a rather ethereal feel.
I might tone down the light areas in the upper background to see how that would work.
Nice low POV Dan. I am also fine with the low SS, but find myself wishing for a tiny bit more room on the left of the wing without loosing any in front. It just feels like the wings are really too close the the end of the frame for me. Nicely done!
good suggestions about adding more space to left if you have it. i
like the head details above all, they are so small and she looks real sweet here. I also like the water drops and the specular BG.
The blurred wings aren't my thing, but I think you did really well to get the detail you did on the head, beak, and chest. Low angle is money, and the specular bits behind are fun. I agree with a bit more room left if you have it.