This Wood Duck hen was photographed from a blind on a small woodland pond in northern Minnesota. The evening shadows were racing across the pond and the light on the bird was fading rapidly. 7D, 500 f/4 + 1.4X, 1/800, f/5.6, ISO 400. I selectively darkened and ran NR on the background. Comments are welcome and appreciated.
Steve- I would be very happy if this were my image! It looks like you have used some flash but I guess not. The perch, pose and head angle are great. The only thing I think you could do to marginally improve an already great image is to ever so slightly dodge (lighten) the eye and surrounds, and remove the OOF vertical item LL.
Last edited by John Chardine; 05-25-2010 at 04:35 PM.
Love the composition Steve and the action you captured in this image. I might be tempted to remove the brown lines on the left of the wood duck but still very lovely as presented and I too would be happy if this were mine :)
Nice shot Steve. I like the log perch and the turned in feet. This one where I don't mind a direct look from the subject, makes it seem she's just as interested in you as you are her.