Wood Duck and Fall colors from North Chagrin

[Dan Behm]

Hello Everyone...My first Picture post here of hopefully many to come, I just recently joined the forums here and have to say its Intimidating the talent here, But also encouraging as I can see I have plenty to learn still...Having lurked for a-while I can say I'm anxious to get started on BPN and become an active participant amongst the forums.
I'll share my first image, this is from the weekend at North Chagrin Reservation here in Ohio, I met several Photographers while there Including Randy Stout One of the moderators here, Pleasure meeting you Randy.



1D4| 600 f/4| 1.4X@ 840MM| Iso400| F/8 |1/640th |Manual | North Chagrin Rservation

Thanks for Looking!!! Dan

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Dan, A huge welcome. It is always great to begin with a killer image!!! Love your choice of perspective, the calling pose, the nice image design, and the sweet two-toned BKGR. I was only at Chagrin once; it is a great place in fall.

Thanks a huge stack for your membership support and I look forward to seeing lots more as good as this one. Perhaps a Linear Burn on the white on the bill....

ps: no Wood Duck image can be considered superb without seeing the purple cheek patch and you got it!

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

A big welcome to BPN. Nice to have met you and chatted a bit. You have come to the right place to learn and grow as a nature photographer.

Excellent, perky pose, good head angle, open bill a plus, good shooting angle, sharp.

I am at my work computer which isn't the greatist, but the image looks a bit cool to me. Might try a version with just a slightly warmer color temp.

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

The reason your counter hasn't shown the views or comments yet is that as your first post, it had to be approved as a legitimate thread. I have done that now so your counters for views and comments should work.

Cheers

Randy

[Gary Esman]

Excellent first post and welcome! Love the calling pose, nice and sharp. As Artie mentioned the background is pretty sweet here. I hope you did not trip over me on Saturday.

Gary.

[Stu Bowie]

A big welcome to BPN Dan, and what a great image to show off. Excellent colours, exposure and sharpness, and well timed to capture the open beak. Love the two tone BG. Looking forward to more.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN!! I love the happy pose this fella gave you...very apt for the celebration of your first post. Great colours, details. I think I may see some cloning marks in the BG (apologies if that is not what they are), but overall a very appealing image.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

welcome to BPN. very nice image to start. loved the pose and the shooting angle. great colors in the head as Artie noted.

[Melissa Groo]

Welcome to BPN, Dan! So good to see you here (and to meet you the other day). Wonderful first post, love the exposure, the low angle, the calling behavior. As Artie says, great job with the purple patch! Wonderfully sharp, great call on the aperture.
Looking forward to many more!

[Dan Behm]

Hey Dan, A huge welcome. It is always great to begin with a killer image!!! Love your choice of perspective, the calling pose, the nice image design, and the sweet two-toned BKGR. I was only at Chagrin once; it is a great place in fall.

Thanks a huge stack for your membership support and I look forward to seeing lots more as good as this one. Perhaps a Linear Burn on the white on the bill....

ps: no Wood Duck image can be considered superb without seeing the purple cheek patch and you got it!

Artie,
Thank you kindly, appreciate the warm welcome and your comments, coming from you it means allot.

Dan:

A big welcome to BPN. Nice to have met you and chatted a bit. You have come to the right place to learn and grow as a nature photographer.

Excellent, perky pose, good head angle, open bill a plus, good shooting angle, sharp.

I am at my work computer which isn't the greatist, but the image looks a bit cool to me. Might try a version with just a slightly warmer color temp.

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

Randy,
Thank you, and appreciate your critique. I will have a look again at the image with regards to the color temp. The image was captured midday so that may be why the lack of warmth. I typically don't influence that in my processing, maybe I should once in awhile such as here.

Excellent first post and welcome! Love the calling pose, nice and sharp. As Artie mentioned the background is pretty sweet here. I hope you did not trip over me on Saturday.

Gary.

Gary,
Thanks for the kind comments, Back at you and yourself tripping over me... At times there were photogs stretched out all over the boardwalk. would love to know what them ducks were thinking.

A big welcome to BPN Dan, and what a great image to show off. Excellent colours, exposure and sharpness, and well timed to capture the open beak. Love the two tone BG. Looking forward to more.

Stuart,
Thanks for the kind words, It means allot, Appreciate the nice welcome!

Welcome to BPN!! I love the happy pose this fella gave you...very apt for the celebration of your first post. Great colours, details. I think I may see some cloning marks in the BG (apologies if that is not what they are), but overall a very appealing image.

Daniel,
Thank you for the nice welcome, Appreciate it, There was some cloning done in the BG to remove some small artifacts in the water, If your seeing them. I may need to rethink that portion of my processing. With no formal training" self taught" which is likely a bad thing. I typically clone at a higher percentage then reduce and fade from a smaller to larger brush then apply the healing brush to blend any areas, blow it up to 100% and view the areas, then if needed may apply some various blur filter to that area to blend all within CS4.

welcome to BPN. very nice image to start. loved the pose and the shooting angle. great colors in the head as Artie noted.

kaustubh,
Appreciate the warm welcome and comments, Thank you kindly.

Welcome to BPN, Dan! So good to see you here (and to meet you the other day). Wonderful first post, love the exposure, the low angle, the calling behavior. As Artie says, great job with the purple patch! Wonderfully sharp, great call on the aperture.
Looking forward to many more!

Melissa,
Nice to have met you. Really enjoyed shooting with you and everyone else, So happy you liked the image,Your comments mean allot, they really do... Very much looking forward to and enjoying your images from the day as well, Hopefully you found your cable :)

Thanks again to everyone for looking, Your critiques and comments!

Dan

[Josh Clark]

Nice pose you captured here Dan. I love the open beak calling look, very comical and unique looking. Nice gradient transition with the water color as well. Nice soft lighting here as well.

[jeffdjohnston]

Well done, Dan. It was nice to meet you there on the 17th. I also enjoyed your photograph of the Henslow Sparrow in the Nature Center.


Regards,

Jeff Johnston