Blue-billed Duck

[Leo Berzins]

A male Blue-billed Duck still wet from a recent dive. Found throughout south-eastern and south-western Australia, but not common.

First post. Don't be gentle, I'm here to learn.

Canon 40D, 400/f5.6L, 1/1250s, f8, ISO 400, handheld while lying flat
slight crop following a small rotation, S/H, levels etc. as per Digital Basics

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN Leo, and a strong first post!! I'm not familiar with this species - love seeing new stuff. EXposure and sharpness look great, and the low angle is nice. I'm really searching hard to find something to improve...

Looking forward to more :-)

[Robert Amoruso]

Agree Daniel, strong first post. I would suggest in levels moving the mid-tones slider to raise the gamma (brightness) of the image to get more separation in the midtones. Shadows/Highlights could be used too just add back some mid-tone contrast when in S/H as a shadows adjustment there can flatten an image's tones.

[Doug Brown]

Welcome to BPN Leo! A solid first post; technically excellent and a species that I'm not familiar with. If I were going to do anything to improve on this image I might clone out some of the imperfections in the water. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos!

[Don Lacy]

Welcome to BPN and a very nice first post.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Excellent first post Leo. I am yet to see one of these, and I have looked. :) Great job with techs and comp. If anything, tidy up the specks in the eye, as it appears to have three or even four catchlights though two are on the right rim and are most likely water droplets.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN, Leo! Very nice first post, I like the details, angle, composition and head angle. The reflection is not ideal but there is not much you could have done about it. Keep them coming!

[Simon Bennett]

Excellent image of a bird hard to get close to.

[Leo Berzins]

Thankyou all for your warm welcome and encouraging comments. Particular thanks to Robert for suggesting mid-tones adjustment in levels.

[Arthur Morris]

COMP, EXP, head angle, and sharpness are all excellent, so sorry, nothing for you to learn except that we want to see more great stuff. So welcome. I love that we have so many skilled folks from around the world here on BPN.