Wood Duck

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk III, 500mm f/4, 1/1250, f/8, ISO 400
Full Frame

Photographed earlier this month at Santee Lakes.

I was fairly close and working on full body portraits when this guy decided to do a wing flap.
I knew it would never fit in the frame but fired away anyway and ended up with this.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques!

[Ilija Dukovski]

Uh, very nice, not only wing flap but great eye contact too.
You did great with the crop too. I like the plumage detail on
the wings a lot. Nice one.

[John Chardine]

I like this Mike. The image is very sharp and well exposed. Love the feather texture under the wing. Maybe a bit more room at the top would be nice but this is a minor point, and it would be hard to add canvas anyway with the wing being there.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Mike,
While I generally don't like wings cut.....I keep finding myself drawn to the face area as a portrait. Did you consider cropping off the right so the URC didn't have the green and appeared more a deliberate crop than clip. Just food for thought. Really nice detail throughout!

[Katie Rupp]

A beautiful Wood duck and I agree with Roman's suggestion to take a bit off the right side.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Beautiful shot Mike, I love the pose. Exposure looks great. Maybe a bit off the right, not sure.