Gadwall in flight

[Garry Coldwells]

I loved the birds motion, the feather and eye detail. I hate the BG. I tried dodging it to soften out the whites and silvers (reflections of the nearby ice) but still find it too choppy. What else could I have done to soften that BG?:confused:


50D with Canon 500mm F4
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/1600
Av( Aperture Value ) 7.1
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 400

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Garry. I like the capture and the gliding configuration of the wings. Looks like you have some clipped blacks in the upper tail area and under the foremost wing. Lower contrast might let you bring out the colors in the coverts and secondaries also.

As for the BG, I would suggest using curves to remove contrast, bring the saturation down, and use a Gaussian blur to smooth it out.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Garry - Like the pose and sharp details and the catchlight in the eye. With BIF generally you want to catch them before they have flown past you, not sayoing he has but he is not far off it.

Kerry's suggestion for the BG could work - personally I dont mind the silvery metallic effect-might just add some blur too it.
Looking forward to the next one :)

[Nonda Surratt]

Good one Gary! Pretty zoomy (fast) ducks, nice and sharp.

Agree with Lance on the framing, the water is fine by me.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Garry,
I like your composition and capture...you have sharp details and good color rendition on your duck...very good advise given by Mr. Perkins and Mr. Peters...The water does not bother me...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[David Smith]

Gary:

I like the sharpness and the BG does not bother me that much.
Nice Capture

Dave

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Garry I like the bg, would net mess with it !!! Looks good.

Top side shots are the best for me, sure shows off the feathers. Agree with points made !!!

[Garry Coldwells]

Thank you all for the input. Kerry and Lance, I will retry with those points in mind.