Mallard Makeover

[Randy Given]

7D, 300mm + 1.4x, f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 400, HH, LR3.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Randy, love the Mallards, one of my favorites. The image could be sharper. HH'ing techniques vary according to the photographer and place. Shutter speed is fine might need to practice panning techniques. What kind of crop was used as well. Sometimes large crops and too much NR can dull images. How much did you boost the saturation dial. Water seems a tad too colorful. This is a subjective area. Some photographers want to represent the scene exactly as they saw it. Others like to boost and make the scene pop or seem more colorful. There is no wrong way, in some cases too much can be distracting. You capture a nice moment in nature, work on sharpness. This is a critical field technique that we all must practice.

[Mike Milicia]

Agree with Jeff regarding sharpness issue.

Also looks like it could use some CW rotation to level the water surface.

The eye looks a bit dead with no catchlight. Given the light angle, it looks like if the bird had turned its head just a bit to its right, you would have probably gotten
one. It's a good idea to watch for the catchlight and only take the image when you see it appear.

[Randy Given]

Thanks for the feedback!

This was before I adjusted the micro AF, haven't been out since, might explain some loss of sharpness. I had done minimal NR, probably not much detail lost from that (in this case).

No saturation changed. The pond water wasn't the greatest color, but I had lightened the exposure a little. It's funny because I would have preferred the more natural look, but I expected some comments about being too dark. Still, I agree about the personal touch and I also like the more natural look.

Good point about CW. I had done it in some others but completely forgot to in this case.

Thanks for helping me learn some more.

[John Chardine]

Beautiful water and a nice bird floating on it! Good comments above Randy. I think the image would respond to some sharpening- not all do but in this case give it a try.

[Asta Tobiassen]

Nice to see a mallard, and a female at that. I also like this bird, especially their orange feet, which you also managed to capture. Interesting that the reflection has a catchlight...

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Randy, good comments above. The first thing that I notice is the lack of sharpness overall. I would suggest going back to the original and adding some USM or other sharpening method. Maybe a bit of CW rotation also. Love the ducks!

[Steve Uffman]

interested in how the micro adjustment works. I did on my 7D and it did wonders. Ironically, I noticed it on a mallard hen with a duckling in front. I focused on the duckling and it was out of focus but the hen was...adjustment did the trick