Since my last few posts have been female wood ducks, thought I would do a male from last weekend.
Late in the afternoon with fairly strong, directional light, which makes for bright water drops and some shadows for definition. Cropped a bit differently than my previous post.
Nikon D300 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, f/7.1 1/1600s ISO 500 Manual Gitzo/Wimberley Fill flash +.3
Post:
CS4 PS curves, selective sharpening, minor crop for comp
Love the colors, BG and water drops. In particular, I like the way the color of the BG complements the gold region of the bird's body. I agree with Gary that the image might need a slight amount of CCW rotation (perhaps just 1°).
Most of the bird seems just a tiny bit OOF on my monitor - the focus point seems to be on the bird's forehead, with sharpness falling off towards the beak. Still, a marvelous image.
Gary, in rechecking it, you are right about the rotation. Using the ruler tool and the drops on the bill, looks like about 2 degrees CCW would do it.
John, re: focus. The focus point was on the black cheek area. At f/7.1 and 1/1600s would expect the entire area to be in the plane of focus and not to have motion blur, but I appreciate your observation and will go back to the original and check it again. I wonder if the coating of water on the lower bill, which is contributing to the large water drop, could be causing the blurry look?
Cheers
Randy
Last edited by Randy Stout; 10-17-2010 at 05:44 AM.
Lovely, magestic capture of this male woodie, Randy. I especially love the water droplet and the small ripples (which do appear to be going ever so slightly upward.) I would remove the highlight from the reflection on the beak (which you appear to have removed from the beak itself.)
I do not see a problem with focus here. I would like to mention that after looking a number of photos of this species, maybe due to their irredescence or ?, they don't always look as tack sharp around the head as one might like.
Really like the composition you chose here and great use of flash.
Randy, you may be right about the water layer giving the bill a slightly soft look. And Marina's point about the iridescence giving the impression of softness is well taken -- I have sometimes noticed this on some of my own images of ducks.
Nice pose, water drop, and colors. I am not sure that his was right down sun angle as the light seems to be coming a bit from the front of the bird leaving the rear half of the face somewhat in shadow.... Getting the purple cheek patch is always a plus.
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Randy, looks like you had fun with these guys, and you certainly nailed the exposure on the colours on the head. I like how the head is 'drooping ' down a tad, and the droplet at the end of the beak puts this over the top. Maybe a tad of NR on the upper BG may work.
[RtieQUOTE=Arthur Morris;581010]Nice pose, water drop, and colors. I am not sure that his was right down sun angle as the light seems to be coming a bit from the front of the bird leaving the rear half of the face somewhat in shadow.... Getting the purple cheek patch is always a plus.[/QUOTE]
Artie:
Definitely to my left on light angle, but it still gave some nice color and I like the definition,
Randy
Last edited by Randy Stout; 10-17-2010 at 09:27 PM.
Randy, Nice capture. I like the downward position of the head with the suspended water droplet. He does look like he is swimming a little bit "uphill" I think you are probably right about the water on the bill creating a slightly blurred look. The very tip of the bill inside the droplet of water looks sharp to me.
I love this photo. The drop of water, the ripples in the water, the droplets on the wood duck, the brilliant colors -- all of these elements contribute to an exceptional photo. I like the placement in the frame as well. Well-done in every respect.
Hi Randy,
I'm not sure if I like this composition.I'd go with a head shot or all of the bird but not half of it. Other than that; what a magnificient bird; so colourful !
Daniel.