It can be difficult to achieve a different perspective on the Mallard, but yesterday early a.m. this one gave me the opportunity to be more artistic with this very common and oft photographed species. I watched it preen through my viewfinder for what seems like forever and never was happy with the head position...it did however give me more than enough time to adjust my settings and be ready for the right time. This wingstrecth was the right time:)
The bright particles floating around are the result of the preening session...bits of feather down all over the place and lit up by the backlighting. I did clone out some that were too close to the face or otherwise badly placed. A thick blade of grass sticking out of the head also cloned out. Additionally, I toned down the specular highlights in the grass but wanted to leave lots in to give that early morning dew-on-grass feeling. The BG is golden light seeping through mist rising from a still-calm pond.
Beautiful & different. Might have liked more space in front of the mallard. This would bring out more of floating bright particles & reduce the proportion of mallard in the frame. Purely a personal taste...