Long-tailed Duck Breeding Plumage

[Krijn Trimbos]

The one bird I really wanted a clean photo of was the Long-tailed Duck (LTD). During winter time I have seen many great shots of other people posting here on this forum of the LTD in winter plumage but thought it would be nice to show them in summer plumage as well. This male was preening and every once in a while he would look up to see if I was still around. Taken at 4 a.m. :)

Canon EOS 7D 1/1000 f8
ISO 400
Canon 500mm L IS USM F4.0 + 1.4 Converter

[Jan Wegener]

Three words for this

Best shot ever (of this species) :)

[Nick Palmieri]

Very nice capture. The head and the eye are very sharp and the BG looks great. I can't say I ever saw this species in summer plumage. On my monitor the blacks look a little dark. TFS.

[Juan Aragonés]

Hey Krijn, I understand your happyness about this outstanding image. The species couldn´t be cooler and the light is just to die for. Fantastic low angle and pose. :)

[denise ippolito]

Beautiful low angle and exposure looks great to me. I like the pose. Maybe a little less room on left and a little more on right. Excellent details!:)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the centered comp here. Awesome details (check out the serrations on the bill!!). Great low angle too. Your title is a bit misleading!:)

[Krijn Trimbos]

Thanks for the comments people! And yes a messed up the title.....sorry about that :o

[Austin Thomas]

Fantastic detail Krijn,

Where was this image taken, out of interest?

tfs

Austin

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great to see one in full breeding plumage. I like the pose, angle and light and agree about trying to get more details in the blacks.

P.S.: I fixed the title, I hope you don't mind. :)

[Jasper Doest]

Pffff....4am....I can still feel it....man I was tired. I admire your dedication here...we were all ready to crash after a long week in the field...and you still wanted to get this shot. Chapeau! The photograph is not as brightly processed as I'm used to see from you, compared to the phalarope this looks a bit flat. But whatever dude...4am...YAWN!

[christopher galeski]

very nice,beautiful colors,plenty of detail,nice pose,good DOF.thanks.

[Hendri Venter]

Never seen one in this plumage. A great low angle capture with good detail. Well done.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Beautiful. superb golden light and perfect shooting angle. Loved the central placement. With birds with long tails, the look-back pose works best from a composition standpoint. Only suggestion is a round of NR on the BG. Thx for sharing.