Four in Flight

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX Mk2
f/4 400mm DO Mk2 at 800mm
f/8
1/2000
ISO 1250

I captured this scene last week, just before sunset, at a local loch...There were five Gadwall, I cropped one out, as it was too close to the LHS of the frame, I did try adding canvas to the LHS, but I thought it looked too pano...it's a pity as that bird also had a decent flight pose, HA, and in focus....This is about 50% crop. HH..ACR, PS2021

Will

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Will .... so good to see something different , compared to the majority of posts here in this forum .
Nice line up of the Gadwall´s .
Nice overall color and tones . composition works for me and no need IMHO for adding some canvas .

Looking at the used techs , I might have stopped down the lens to gain a bit more IQ ( theoretically ) .

TFS Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

I would call this one nothing short of amazing. Four great head angles and three heads in the clear. I am not seeing where you lost the fifth bird so well done on that. I would not have sacrificed shutter speed or ISO for more d-o-f. If anything, you might selectively sharpen the face of the lead bird. And you might wish to remove the fluffy yellow seed head one the right frame edge, the large one there.

with love, artie

[annmpacheco]

Hey William, Superb in my book, love the crop, the habitat and those ducks all cooperating by giving you a variety of poses , it is terrific. Ducks on parade! applause...

[Bill Dix]

Just wonderful, Will. Great comp, terrific poses, super habitat. Well done indeed!

[gail bisson]

This is awesome! At first I thought it was a composite image.
Amazing to get 4 birds with good HA's and all tack sharp.
Well done!
Gail

[John Mack]

Love the waterfowl setting these gadwall are in. Nice poses on all birds. Can't figure out which bird/pose I like the best. Nice light as well.

[dankearl]

I would be very happy with a cool shot like this despite its minor flaws.... Nice work.

[jack williamson]

Wow! This is really good, great light, great framing, congratulations!

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty cool frame Will, got both make and female too!

TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

Wonderful, all good head angles, all good wing positions. You must have been pumped when you first looked at the image. Really nice, thank you for sharing, Wil.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love it! Perfect habitat image that would make Ducks Unlimited proud :-) Very refreshing scene!

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that guys.....much appreciated.

Will

[Brian Sump]

Will, this is astounding. It's hard getting two in the same plane, but four???

The warmth, the diagonal flight pattern against the vertical reeds, the soft water line for perspective... all fantastic.

Really well done amigo!