Mandarin Duck in flight

[Asif Khan]

Hello All, Shot this Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) @ yuangyang lake couple of days back. Yuanyang lake is the wintering site of the chinese wild population of mandarin duck - around 1000+ pairs remain in china with another 1000+ in Russia and more around 5000 in Japan not including the feral mandarin population in europe. Got this in flight, unfortunately no space on on the left side of the frame, there is some on the right..so trimmed it from right to box it a little. No major changes done, except for exposure and contrast in lightroom. Shot using Nikon D3S, 600mm f/4 lens with 1.7x teleconverter so at 1000mm. In aperture priority, f/8, 1/1250sec, ISO 800. Appreciate comments and feedback. Thanks much.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN again, Asif! I like the wing position and look-back pose in this one and wish the bird were angled toward you and might sharpen the duck a bit more. I would give it more room to 'fly into' on the left side. Keep them coming!

[Asif Khan]

Thank you Axel for the comments..i will sharpen the image further. Any idea on how i can add space on the left ? there is no space in the original shot and i rarely use photoshop. Though will give it a try tomorrow. Any hints appreciated. Cheers

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Asif, there is a great tutorial in the 'educational resources' forum how to extend the canvas. It should be easy in this case because the background is quite uniform: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=41898

[Asif Khan]

Thanks much Axel, I went through it and looks pretty quick and easy. Will give it a try tomorrow...1:08AM past midnight here...gotta go to bed ! Thanks again. Will post the modified image tomorrow. Cheers

[arash_hazeghi]

Beautiful duck, love those colors. I also echo Axel;s comments on canvas, just wish it was flying towards you. Nice techs as well.

[Asif Khan]

Hello all, Pls find attached a repost based on the feedback. I have added canvas on the left and did selective sharpening of the head - all using photoshop cs3. Certainly looks better than the earlier one. Thanks to all for the constructive feedback. Cheers,

[Asif Khan]

Beautiful duck, love those colors. I also echo Axel;s comments on canvas, just wish it was flying towards you. Nice techs as well.

Hey Arash, Thank you so much for the feedback. I have made changes as per Axels and your recommendation and did a repost. Hope you like it.

Cheers

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The additional space certainly makes it stronger. You could also add a bit canvas at the top. Overall, the image is still a bit dark, adjusting the midtones would help with that and you could run NR on the BG.

[Asif Khan]

Hi Alex, attached with extended canvas on the top / midtone adjustments. Any recommendations on how to reduce the noise on BG ? Cheers

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Hi Alex, attached with extended canvas on the top / midtone adjustments. Any recommendations on how to reduce the noise on BG ? Cheers

Just select the bird, then extend by 5 pixels, inverse selection and use the noise reduction tool in PS. Check out these threads: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ead.php?t=6040 and http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=23825

The 'educational resources' forum has lots of useful tutorials, always worth a look: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...splay.php?f=30

[Asif Khan]

Thanks Axel....i am really learning lot of new photoshop digital editing skills in photoshop. I have never used photoshop so much before..so far have only relied on image as shot with some basic modification in lightroom. Glad that i joined this forum...though have to do a lot of reading in the education forum now :) ! Cheers

[Arthur Morris]

Asif, Welcome and thanks a ton for your membership support. It must have been a big thrill to photograph a bird with such a small global population. You are getting some great advice above. I do love the wing position.

[Asif Khan]

Asif, Welcome and thanks a ton for your membership support. It must have been a big thrill to photograph a bird with such a small global population. You are getting some great advice above. I do love the wing position.

Hello Sir Arthur ! Very glad to get a message from you and thank you for your comments on the wing position. You have been a great inspiration to me and photographers around the world. I am glad to have joined this forum, there are really great honest folks here, who are willing to help / share unconditionally - and yes, am learning a LOT ! Thanks again for your message and look forward to remain in touch with you and get your guidance for my further improvement.

Cheers

[Arthur Morris]

Thank you Asif for your more than kind words. I will likely be here to help till they nail the box shut. :)