Bufflehead

[Conrad Tan]

Shot around mid-morning in Northern California in a town called Union City at the local library pond. Did my best to recover the whites. Do the whites look grey to you all? I can't tell anymore I've been staring at this photo way too long :D

Shutter Speed = 1/4000 second
F-Stop ƒ/5.6
Exposure Program = shutter priority
ISO = 400
Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 700 mm (500mm + 1.4TC)
Canon EOS 7D

[Grace Scalzo]

Conrad, Please remember when you read this that it is my opinion only. I have no images of buffleheads nearly as good as this one and I think technically it looks fine, altho a bit tight by the tail. What is not pleasing to my eye are the colors. They don't compliment the duck, but rather compete with him, to my eye..if I were a painter, I would not use the oranges and olive greens with this duck but would lean toward the cooler colors. I would love to see a gadwall in this spot. Again, tho, just my 2 cents and we all see things with our own slant.

[Conrad Tan]

Conrad, Please remember when you read this that it is my opinion only. I have no images of buffleheads nearly as good as this one and I think technically it looks fine, altho a bit tight by the tail. What is not pleasing to my eye are the colors. They don't compliment the duck, but rather compete with him, to my eye..if I were a painter, I would not use the oranges and olive greens with this duck but would lean toward the cooler colors. I would love to see a gadwall in this spot. Again, tho, just my 2 cents and we all see things with our own slant.

Thank you very kindly Grace for your comments. I do have some images with it floating by some cool-toned backgrounds! Perhaps I'll edit one of those and try again! Happy holidays to you! :)

[Arthur Morris]

I'll take this one :) Killer job with the sweet soft light and the iridescence (however you spell that...) And I do not mind the color scheme. I do agree with more room behind and I think that the head could be sharpened a bit more.

[Arthur Morris]

ps: the perfect head angle--turned just a bit towards us (and the soft light), helped reveal all of those colors on the head.

[Rohan Kamath]

I loved the soft light here and the beautiful colors. I personally find it very pleasing to the eye. Agree with a tad more space behind the bird.


-Regards,
Rohan
__________________________________________________ _
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Conrad, the whites look perfect to me. The iridescent colors on the head are spectacular. The water and the bg are crazy colorful!
Wow, I wish I had a library with a setting like this here. Perhaps that would get me to read more ;)
Imo, this image could use a slight crop from the bottom, or a at least a clone job to remove the dark stuff at the bottom edge of the frame.

[Ryan Schain]

Aside from adding some canvas on the right, I find this image perfect. TOUGH species to expose, let alone photograph. Major props man.

[Arthur Morris]

For those who think that male Buffleheads or adult Common Loons are tough exposures I have only one thing to say: you should try those two with film; getting the right exposure of any subject with digital is child's play...

[Conrad Tan]

I'll take this one :) Killer job with the sweet soft light and the iridescence (however you spell that...) And I do not mind the color scheme. I do agree with more room behind and I think that the head could be sharpened a bit more.

Thanks Art, I'll watch the room behind and pop a bit more sharprning around the head sir. Thanks again sir! :D :D :D

[Conrad Tan]

ps: the perfect head angle--turned just a bit towards us (and the soft light), helped reveal all of those colors on the head.

Hey thanks again Artie! :D

[Conrad Tan]

I loved the soft light here and the beautiful colors. I personally find it very pleasing to the eye. Agree with a tad more space behind the bird.


-Regards,
Rohan
__________________________________________________ _
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

Thanks Rohan! :D :D :D

[Conrad Tan]

Conrad, the whites look perfect to me. The iridescent colors on the head are spectacular. The water and the bg are crazy colorful!
Wow, I wish I had a library with a setting like this here. Perhaps that would get me to read more ;)
Imo, this image could use a slight crop from the bottom, or a at least a clone job to remove the dark stuff at the bottom edge of the frame.

Thank you for your input Sidharth. I am happy you enjoyed the photo. I appreciate it!

[Conrad Tan]

Aside from adding some canvas on the right, I find this image perfect. TOUGH species to expose, let alone photograph. Major props man.

Thanks Ryan! Much appreciated!

[Conrad Tan]

For those who think that male Buffleheads or adult Common Loons are tough exposures I have only one thing to say: you should try those two with film; getting the right exposure of any subject with digital is child's play...

Hehe... I can't even begin to image what its like to expose using film. Much props to all film users!

[Arthur Morris]

YAW. I will say that pretty much all good images of this species come from the West Coast or from the NW.

And I will say that I have rarely seen a scanned film image without the WHITEs being over-exposed (no matter how good they looked on the slide....)

[Conrad Tan]

YAW. I will say that pretty much all good images of this species come from the West Coast or from the NW.

And I will say that I have rarely seen a scanned film image without the WHITEs being over-exposed (no matter how good they looked on the slide....)

I'm going to leave the film work to the experts. I'm barely getting a grasp on digital Haha! Also, I hope you have a happy new year Artie!

[Nate Chappell]

Terrific exposure and colors here Conrad:cool: