Long-tailed Duck Portrait

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Photographed at Barnegat Light. I liked the soft light and calm water in this one.



1D4, 500f4, 1.4x, 1/800s, f/8, EC +0.33, ISO 400, cropped from horizontal

[John Haig]

I love the way the soft light shows the subtle tones of the face and the saddle of the bill and the eye color. Fluffed "crest" is really nice, too.
I'm always jealous of your Barnegat birds...we have Long-tails wintering here on the St. Lawrence River but they're not generally accessible.

[Grace Scalzo]

What draws my attention is the perfect eye with the catchlight and nice contact. Beautiful, Axel.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Sweet , sweet light and BG. I might take a bit off the top. Great feel to the water as well.

[Luis Villablanca]

Nice head angle and eye contact. I also like the detail on the face and the bill.

[Jan Wegener]

never been to a Long-tailed Duck that close :)

Stunning

[Stu Bowie]

I like your choice of a vertical comp, and well exposed in soft light. Overall nice and sharp, and I like the wave infront of the chest. Well captured.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Well done on the crop. Exposure spot on as usual. Loved the eye contact. Your work on this species is very impressive.