Mallard

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 7D Canon 500mm F4 L IS tripod @ low level
I did quite a bit in Photoshop including removing a duck from the background and I re-cropped the image because the wing tips were right at the edge of the frame. I also created the complete rim of water around the duck as the original image transected it. I had to make a selection of the right hand side, make a layer , laterally invert it and paste it on the other side of the duck. I then created a little rim for the central area, and followed this by adding a little more water to the bottom.
I had some difficulty in smoothing out the edges of the left wing where I cloned a duck from the background, I tried masking and modifying the edge, but it still wasn't too good. The final product was achieved by making a layer mask and sharpening the top layer and applying aggressive noise reduction to the bottom layer, when I brushed the layer mask I left the extreme edges of the wing soft.

All C & C welcome

[Arthur Morris]

It looks pretty good but still too tight in the frame for me (especially at the bottom) . Wonderful pose and underwing detail.... I know that the bird is leaning to the side but I still think that it needs some CCW rotation.... You can try leveling the eyes....

Lastly, there are some unusually light areas around the head.

Perhaps if you posted the original capture we could see what you did....

[Harshad Barve]

Love the wing pose , HA and details on breast , excellent suggestion above
TFS

[Dave Leroy]

Very well done on the post processing.

I like the exposure on the under wings and all the detail.

If mine I might lighten up the head and eye area a bit and if not tired from all the other stuff already done, I would look at removing the dark area just above head.

Well done and it looks like fairly bright overhead light.

Dave

[James Salywoda]

Awesome pose captured Jonathan I agree about the rotation.

[Nico Steenberg]

Great sharp detail in those whites ! Like the pose and angle captured

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone for the C&C the finer points you mention will be taken on board and I will make an attempt to improve further. Meanwhile here is the jpeg of the original image as requested by Artie.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Jon, Wow, you did a lot of good PS work. Especially at the bottom... I never suspected. I asked because I wanted to see where the light area around the head came from. Now I know--it was in the original!

[Duane Noblick]

My goodness you did a lot of work on this image but I like the results.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Jon, Wow, you did a lot of good PS work. Especially at the bottom... I never suspected. I asked because I wanted to see where the light area around the head came from. Now I know--it was in the original!

Thanks again - here is the latest version taking on board the suggested tips for improvement:

[Arthur Morris]

Pretty darned good. I'd still try to lose the broad light halo on the right side of the bird's head :)