Long-tailed Duck

[Alan Murphy]

Long-tailed Duck

Barrow, Alaska

D3, 600, ISO 500, f7, 1/1000

During Matthew Studebaker's workshop, we waded into freezing water to get this low angle, breeding plumage, courtship display pose.
I took liberty with the crop as I would normally allow a bit more room for the long virtual tail which probably reaches past the frame, but to show detail for the web, I cropped in close.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Alan, excellent on all counts...pose, exposure, low angle....beautiful species. We had one individual here( winter plumage though) last year here in Dallas that caused a big buzz in the birding community. It stayed too far out on the water for any decent shots.

wishing for a larger size.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent display pose and such a great soft light, not to mention the low angle. The details would show much better if you post 1024 pixels instead of 800

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Beautiful pose and low angle. I like the shade of blue the water holds as well.

[Stu Bowie]

Alan, I like the stately pose, and you have brought out the colours nicely.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I photographed this species for the first time this past weekend (a female)...not nearly as beautiful an individual as this breeding plumaged male here! Excellent pose, and although you cropped this way for web presentation I still like it as is.

[Bill Dix]

Lovely. We don't get to see these in breeding plumage. Great courtship pose. Checks all the boxes for me.