They are really flocking in now! Wood Duck Drake from Cleveland
I figured that I needed to join the fun! The weather had been horrid on Thursday, a little better on Friday, and great on Saturday. A big group of folks, not a lot of birds but the ones there were cooperative.
D700 600VR with 1.4 ,1/1600s, f/7.1 , ISO 800 SB900 fill Tripod flat on the ground, right angle finder
Post: CS5 selective sharpening, toned down the whites a bit, cleaned up a few spots in the water. I was really close to cutting off the tail, so added a bit of canvas on the right. That was an interesting exercise. I can post the original if anyone wants to see what I started with.
Beautiful water and detail.
The whites look a bit blown (I am the master at blowing them).
I think that using flash, it is about impossible to get them right.
Very nice image though, a bit off the bottom and a bit more on the top would look nice to me.
I'm still amazed at the look of this species of duck. The golden water is lovley and of course the colours of the bird. Yep I can see the canvas addition.
Hey Randy, I am guessing this is from the morning. Beautiful background and nice to see the blue feathers on the back. Would love to see this original size and not compressed, very very nice.
Your exposure looks perfect, so tricky with these subjects. Colors on his back, lovely. Nice eye contact. Just do a little more housekeeping on your extension.
Randy, great swimming pose and HA. You have brought out the colours very well, and good use of flashwork - very subtle. Love the colour of the water too.
Fantastic work, Randy. Excellent job with your flash. Water is gorgeous, love those varied fall colors. Great eye contact too.
So great to meet you in OH. Will post one of my own once I have a chance to look at them all!!
Nice work, Randy! I'm liking this one alot!
Fill flash is so very helpful in taking images to the next level, nice to see your efforts paying dividends.
Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. It was a fun time, and I am sure a lot of folks will be posting more woodies in the next few weeks. There is a neat picture in friends and family from Jim Buescher showing the line up of photographers working the birds.
I will touch up the canvas extension. I stared at it so long that I missed the flaw behind the tail. This was not a straight forward canvas extension because of the nature of the water. The patch of color was only about 3-4 ft. wide, and the right side of the frame was starting to go a bit lighter, so when I extended it, it looked very obvious. I only had about 2" of room behind the tail to work with.
Randy.
Excellent low angle and exposure with a nice head turn, the water colors are exquisite,You captured the Iridescence in the woodies plumage beautifully. The light pattern in the water and behind the duck adds greatly to the overall image and speaks volumes as to why this place is so special. A pleasure meeting you there and shooting alongside of you. It was a very enjoyable day!
Ooh, very nice! After fixing the water under the tail you'll have an perfect image! Hard to believe water could compete with a fresh breeding plumage Wood Duck...but here it does (in a good way!)
I agree with all the positive comments, I especially like the BG colors. The one new thing I have to add is that it looks like there are two catchlights in the eye. Maybe one from the sun and one from the flash? I think removing the lower one would help.
They are really flocking in now! Wood Duck Drake from Cleveland
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