Harlequin drake 2

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 VR @ 220mm. ISO 400. f/7.1 @ 1/2500s. Matrix metering @ -1.7 EV. Cropped ~35%.

Another pose from the same drake I posted last week in Avian. Very little done to the image except to brighten the eye, NR and s/h on the BG, plus a little USM on the bird. C&C appreciated.

[Kurtis Diffenbaugh]

Nice photo Bill. The blue background is quite nice for showing the shape of the Drake. The exposure, feather detail, frame placement, etc look good to me.

[Alfred Forns]

Fine looking bird Bill !!! Don't think you could have done any better short of taking the duck to a studio !! Excellent shadow detail and whites look reasonable !! To do any better you need to catch him at first light !!!

[Reza Gorji]

Sharpness and detail is astonishing.
A truly beautiful picture.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Love the EV -1.7 to protect the whites, nice exposure techs. Bill, could you get lower or was there obstructions, anyway, this is real good!

[Lance Peters]

Sweet Sweet Sweet - Nicely Done Bill.
Ticks all the boxes for me.
Big Congrats

[arash_hazeghi]

Very cool Bill, sharp and nice, might try to get even lower if possible at all.

[Roy Churchill]

All looks great to me - smashing shot.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for the kind comments. Jeff and Arash: good point; a lower capture angle would have been better, but not possible here on the jetty.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Bill, Been on that jetty many times and thats about the best angle you can get. A much cleaner image than your previous example with no nits from me.At this location in order to get warm light it would have to be late in the day...

[Bill Dix]

Hi Bill, Been on that jetty many times and thats about the best angle you can get. A much cleaner image than your previous example with no nits from me.At this location in order to get warm light it would have to be late in the day...

Thanks Dave. You're right, morning doesn't work here. This was taken at about 4:00 PM (EDT). An hour or two later certainly would have been better, up to the point where the jetty rocks start to cast their shadow on the birds.

[Gail Spitler]

Bill - very nice indeed. The legs on these guys are interesting, the rearward leg almost looks like two legs :D

Cheers
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Bill - very nice indeed. The legs on these guys are interesting, the rearward leg almost looks like two legs :D

Cheers
Gail

Interesting, Gail. I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it. I swear I didn't paste in a third leg.

[Bob Miller]

Very nicely Done! Sharpness is amazing!