Duck

[Andrew Merwin]

I have 2 questions: What is he? & How is the HA? Plus any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Mrk3, tripod, ISO 400, 700mm, f/5.6, 1/80.

I know the SS is slow but I think I got away with it because the bird was very slowly drifting on the lake. I made the image about an hour after sunrise in heavy shade while waiting for otters to show up & pose for me .

[MohsenVahedipour]

Hi Andrew
A male Scaup.
Nice HA & Reflection. I love golden water too.

[George Scott]

Hi Andrew, this looks like a male lesser scaup to me (I could be wrong, I find it difficult to ID lesser vs greater but the barring on the back and head shape are pushing me to lesser). The HA seems fine to me, as does the water color and reflection but it looks like maybe there is a bit of noise from maybe lightening the shadow a bit to get detail on the blacks? A nice image and composition. Congrats

[Arthur Morris]

This is a drake Lesser Scaup. The peaked crown gives it away. Greater has a rounded head. The HA in the bird is perfect. But slightly distorted and turned away in the reflection :)

Add some BLACKS to the BLACK in Selective color to give this one more punch. Otherwise all good as above.

[Andrew Merwin]

Thanks everyone for your advice & ID. I thought it was a scaup, but my image was different enough from the bird books to create some doubt in my mind.
Andrew

[Doug Brown]

A quick levels adjustment (whites and blacks) really makes this image pop.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes, perfect HA. Sharpness seems fine too, at least as a reduced web posting.

I don't know if its only me, but I see a pretty significant blue cast on the duck. Reducing those blues and adding some warmth to the overall image would also bring out nice colours to the water.

[Doug Brown]

I don't know if its only me, but I see a pretty significant blue cast on the duck. Reducing those blues and adding some warmth to the overall image would also bring out nice colours to the water.

I see it too, but I'm using Elements right now, not PS. Not sure how to fix it in Elements.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks Doug, glad I wasn't the only one!!

Do you have "Color Balance" in Elements? Perhaps also just playing around with the saturation (reducing blue/cyan channels, and adding yellow/red to taste) would work.

[Bill Dix]

I see it too, but I'm using Elements right now, not PS. Not sure how to fix it in Elements.

Doug, repost is a great improvement, and seems to my eye to have taken out most of the blue cast. What I do in Elements is to use a photo filter in the opposite color on the color wheel - in this case the Orange Warming Filter #85, at 25% density and on an adjustment layer at 25% opacity. I've done that on your repost, and probably pushed it too far the other direction, since as I say, your repost looked pretty good already. I'm sure there is another way to do this in Elements - this is not nearly as sophisticated as Daniel's LAB Color techniques which one can't do in PSE - if there's a better way hopefully someone will chime in.

[Doug Brown]

One more repost, this time using CS5.

[Doug Brown]

Original on top, my second repost on the bottom.

[Andrew Merwin]

You guys are right, there is a blue cast. Thanks for drawing it to my attention. After your comments, I eliminated the blue cast in my original image. Good eyes everyone.
Andrew

[Arthur Morris]

I like Doug's 2nd repost except that the head it too black and has lost significant detail. The water, however, rocks. Doug, it is good to have you back.

[Dave Blinder]

Here's my try at a repost. Nearly a 100% reduction in Blue, Cyan, and Magenta channels in CS4 under Image:Adjustments:Hue/Saturation, I then made a selection on the background and increased the contrast. Finally, added a slight orange photo filter to restore some tone to the bird.

Ideally, I would directly remove color casts in ACR by using the eyedrop tool on what should be a neutral gray portion of the subject.

[Arthur Morris]

Another good one. I love your handling of the BLACKs. All need to consider that in life both scaups have purple/green sheens to the heads....

[Andrew Merwin]

I have been following everyone's comments & reposts with great interest. I have tried some of your suggestions & came up with this repost. WDYT?

[Arthur Morris]

WTG Andrew. I may actually like your version best!

[Daniel Cadieux]

WTG Andrew. I may actually like your version best!

Me too!

[Andrew Merwin]

Thanks Artie. Accolades from you are truly meaningful because of your vast repertoire of experience.
Thanks Daniel. You are another photographer whose experience I respect.
Andrew

[Doug Brown]

You get my vote too Andrew!