Flight of the tufted duck

[Krijn Trimbos]

Here is another one from spring. During march large numbers of these birds still gather in little inland lakes. After march they dispers throughout the country looking for nesting sites. While in Friesland for my field season I found a little inland lake with a lot of tufted ducks resting. Every once in a while one would fly off.

Here I tried to include some of the reedbed as being part of its habitat, without it being to much of a distraction.
Hope it worked, I am not too fond of the shadow on the far wing but I thought I would show it anyway!


C & C are most welcome,

Canon EOS 50D 1/1600 f9
ISO 500
Canon 300mm F2.8 L USM + 2x Converter
Handheld

[Harshad Barve]

One beautiful species , nice wing pose and eye contact , I am loving BG here , looks so natural :)
TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like it! The habitat certainly is a plus. The only reed that gives me second thoughts is the longer one at the tip of the bill, but with so many you are always bound to have at least one culprit. Nice and sharp, and a good full down-wing pose. There is a little bit of noise apparent on the blacks near the tail and base of wing, but all else looks great.

[Colin Knight]

Very nice! I enjoyed reading the others' C&C.

Regarding the noise issue, I'm wondering if your exposure wasn't boosted in post processing? The 50D is better than that at ISO 500.

Colin

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi all thanks for the reply! I actually tried to get a bit more detail out of the blacks on the back of the duck using S/H as with other shots I had gotten some suggestions to get a bit more detail out of the blacks. Also with these kind of things it is very important what kind of monitor you use and if it is calibrated. My monitor (calibrated with eye-one) at home showed some but not extensive noise (surely acceptable) after S/H usage, while the one here at work shows some nasty noise issues. I guess I will leave it as it was before without the S/H work.

Thanks again for all the feedback!!

Cheers,

Krijn

[Kiran Poonacha]

Just too good Bhai, loved the pose, expo and light, the BG really works here, congrats..

[Joel Eade]

Agree with previous critiques. Good focus on the eye and head. Wish for just slightly sharper wing tips but overall very nicely done.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Pose and eye contact look good but the BG makes this one for me.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Love this image Krijn. The beautiful BG really puts this over the top for me as well as the lovely flight pose. Well done !

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

killer pose,eye contact,light,details...wing position!

[Chris van Rooyen]

Krijn I just love this image! The sharpness on the bird is superb and the suggestion of habitat puts it over the top! Why F/9?

[Krijn Trimbos]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments!

Chris,
Actually I was first photographing them while swimming, in those cases I always go for a little more DOF to make sure to get most of them sharp. Suddenly they didn't like my presence anymore en flew off, I think with a little more time I would have gone for even more shutterspeed or lower ISO value. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks again,

Krijn

[Stephen Stephen]

Lovely image here Krijn. I like the wing position and the BG. Great colours on the head, eye and bill as well.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice shot Krijn, love the BG wing position and flight angle I see a little bit of noise too but overall a great image, TFS

[Mike Veltri]

Wonderful shot, love the wing position and background.

[Paul Lagasi]

Krijn..wicked flight image...background plants bent one way, duck flying other way..a bit noisy but as you said you used SH..thanks for posting

[James Salywoda]

Love the setting Krijn an excellent shot.

[Bill Dix]

Wonderful eye-level flight shot. For me the f/9 works well in giving the BG just the right amount of blur to gain a sense of habitat without overpowering the duck. Noise already noted. Nicely done!