Ring-necked Duck

[Ilija Dukovski]

I took this one this morning at the Charles River in Waltham MA.
What really surprised me here is that I can actually see the dark
cherry red ring on this bird. I don't think I've ever noticed
it before on one of these guys.
Cloudy and overcast, Nikon D700 300mm+TC1.4 f/5.6 1/125 Matrix AP-2/3 ISO500

Comments appreciated.

[Mike Milicia]

Great pose, composition, and detail!
I tried to get close to these guys a few weeks ago to no avail.

Maybe tone down the whites just a tad.

[Ilija Dukovski]

I tried to get close to these guys a few weeks ago to no avail.

I hear you, they are not the most cooperative birds.
I took this near the Shaw's in Waltham,
the river is quite narrow there so the ducks don't have much
space to swim away.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Loved the low angle and comp here Bhai..

[Stu Bowie]

Lovely low angle, and I like the pose. Does this need a very slight CCW rotation?

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful shot. I like the low angle and the head turn. I love the color of the water.
Great detail in the blacks. I agree with with Mike about toning down the whites a bit.

Markus

[Ilija Dukovski]

Thank you for the CC, I was struggling with the whites myself,
I guess they need more toning down. Thanks, appreciated.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Does this need a very slight CCW rotation?

Stuart, I think the water ripple is not straight so it does make an impression
of tilt. I tried several rotations and ended with this one. Thanks.

[Jim Fenton]

ILIJA...

really enjoy the colors of the water and the low angle.

I agree with Mike that the whites could be toned down just a bit.

I think that the birds head / eye could use a tad more sharpening and that the browns need to be darkened a bit. To my eyes, I don't recall seeing a chocolate variant ring neck :)

I'd be tempted to crop some from the bottom and do more of a pano with this as my eyes find the bird a bit too close to center vertically.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Jim, thanks for the comments and suggestion, appreciated.

...and that the browns need to be darkened a bit. To my eyes, I don't recall seeing a chocolate variant ring neck :)

Well that is the question, what color is the neck ring???
Official description would be 'chestnut':

lhttp://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1500id.html

but, how is 'chestnut' different than 'chocolate'?:)

Here's the neck straight from camera raw with auto white balance.
I'm not sure if this is what it really looks like...