Mallard in Flight from Kellogg Bird Sancturay

[Dan Behm]

I too made a visit to Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, Joining BPN Members Josh Clark and Jim Buescher. Huge Thanks goes to Randy and Gary for helping us plan the trip. We all had a great time. Although I came away with many good shots, this shot of this Mallard in flight I have mixed emotions about. should I clone the 2 other blurred ducks from the scene or leave them, I elected to leave them but curious what others have to say!

All comments and critique welcome!

1D4| 600F/4 +1.4x at 840mm| Iso 800| F/6.3| 1/5000th| Manual| Augusta, Mich

Dan

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, great flying angle and wing position, and well timed to get the open beak. You have brought out the greens very well on the head, and I like the blue of the water too. With regards to the two OOF ducks, I would clone out both, or at least the one on the RHS.

[arash_hazeghi]

Great pose and nice light, I like the open beak. I am with Stu regarding the OOF ducks in the BG. I think the bird will stand out more with a bit more sharpening

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Lovely calling pose, light and exposure. Nice repost by Arash. Superb image.

[KK Hui]

I like the calling pose you captured, Dan!
The re-post by Arash looks good.

[Ofer Levy]

Excellent! Repost looks better and removing the oof birds will put it over the top IMHO.

[Gary Esman]

Very nice in flight pose Dan. The open beak does make the guy pop more! Nice wing position, light angle is nice and the back ground is gorgeous. I would also clone out the OOF birds. Great job on the exposure. I am glad you guys had a good time.

Gary.

[Melissa Groo]

Awesome flight shot with open bill! Great work, Dan. Though the BG birds help provide a sense of place, I do think the image would be better served by taking them out, to bring full attention to the mallard. Gorgeous image. Looking forward to more from your trip!

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

Glad you had a good time.

I am in agreement with removing the OOF birds. I tend to like extra elements in flight shots to give some sense of depth to the image, but the location and brightness of the geese isn't working here.

The mallard himself is good, with the quacking pose and the good green in the critical area around the eye. Excellent angle in frame and wing position.


Cheers

Randy

[Jim Buescher]

The duck is spot on with exposure and focus and nice that the wings don't overlap, open bill a plus. If there was more definition to the forward goose I might consider leaving it but it's so oof I don't think it adds to the image. I would get rid of the one on the edge of the frame. You had some good technique that day and it paid off with these fast fliers.

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Dan! I like the open beak and the repost by Arash brings out the potential of this image. I would clone out the OOF birds too but still good as presented.

[Dan Behm]

Hi Dan, great flying angle and wing position, and well timed to get the open beak. You have brought out the greens very well on the head, and I like the blue of the water too. With regards to the two OOF ducks, I would clone out both, or at least the one on the RHS.

Stuart, Thank you for the critique, I appreciate it, I was undecided and tried it both ways, went back to this. I often seem to struggle with changing images and cloning larger elements like this Out, But the more I look at it I think your rite.

Dan

Great pose and nice light, I like the open beak. I am with Stu regarding the OOF ducks in the BG. I think the bird will stand out more with a bit more sharpening

Arash, Thanks for the comments and your opinions with regards to the OOF birds. I sharpened this in Post with Smart Sharpen at 25% .6 radius|25% .4 Radius then 25% .2 Radius... I always seem leary of over sharpening and very seldom go beyond the sharpening I mentioned, I will go another pass here after I clone the OOF birds... thanks for the critique.

Lovely calling pose, light and exposure. Nice repost by Arash. Superb image.

Sid,
Thanks for the comments!

KK,
Thanks for the comments. agree perhaps a tad more sharpening was in order

Excellent! Repost looks better and removing the oof birds will put it over the top IMHO.

Thanks Ofer, I respect your opinion. seems to be overwhelmingly popular!

Very nice in flight pose Dan. The open beak does make the guy pop more! Nice wing position, light angle is nice and the back ground is gorgeous. I would also clone out the OOF birds. Great job on the exposure. I am glad you guys had a good time.

Gary.

Gary,
Thanks for the the comments and opinion on the OOF birds... Great place you guys have there, I really enjoyed it.

Awesome flight shot with open bill! Great work, Dan. Though the BG birds help provide a sense of place, I do think the image would be better served by taking them out, to bring full attention to the mallard. Gorgeous image. Looking forward to more from your trip!

Hey Melissa,
Thanks much, I will remove the birds. I think sometimes I try not to change things to much in an image, But in this case I tend to agree with everyone, thats why I posted it, wanted to see how everyone felt.

Dan:

Glad you had a good time.

I am in agreement with removing the OOF birds. I tend to like extra elements in flight shots to give some sense of depth to the image, but the location and brightness of the geese isn't working here.

The mallard himself is good, with the quacking pose and the good green in the critical area around the eye. Excellent angle in frame and wing position.


Cheers

Randy

Hey Randy,
Thank you...You too huh, can't someone like the OOF birds, Just kidding... My thinking as they did'nt come into contact with the in flight It added an extra element to the image but I was really undecided, so thought I would get others help me decide. and that everyone did...Thank you!

The duck is spot on with exposure and focus and nice that the wings don't overlap, open bill a plus. If there was more definition to the forward goose I might consider leaving it but it's so oof I don't think it adds to the image. I would get rid of the one on the edge of the frame. You had some good technique that day and it paid off with these fast fliers.

Jim,
Thanks a million, I had a great time there and the weather could not have been nicer for us. Of course the company made it all the better as well. just an all around great day. I here what your saying about the OF bird, the more I look at it I tend to agree at it does distract me back and forth. good to hear from others as well. It was a successful post, I got the feedback I was looking for to help me decide. appreciate the comment on the form, I really tried this day as I didn't have much in flight on ducks and made a concerted effort to change that while there, the backdrops and conditions were very favorable... they are quick though, I had my share of junk to go along with the few keepers.

Thanks again everyone!

Dan

[Dan Behm]

Nice image Dan! I like the open beak and the repost by Arash brings out the potential of this image. I would clone out the OOF birds too but still good as presented.

Hey Jim,
Appreciate the comments. for whatever reason the image does appear a tad softer here than my original I have blown up on my 24" monitor, I agree Arashs here does look sharper and much better.... Thanks for helping confirm the OOF birds. the Sharpness issue is somewhat concerning to me as I always try to pride in sharp images or toss them regardless of how much I like them. So not exactly sure what thats all about!


One thing I;ll add and seems to happen allot with me is I find an Image I processed today, looks different to me tomorrow and sometimes even an hour later and I find I go back and fiddle some more, never seeming to be content... This is more the case when I do many images one after another. I seem to do better when I focus on 1 image. and even then sometimes find I often change things, most often suttle, but make changes. I guess trying to always make things better may be a good thing!!!

[Jim Crosswell]

Hey Jim,
Appreciate the comments. for whatever reason the image does appear a tad softer here than my original I have blown up on my 24" monitor, I agree Arashs here does look sharper and much better.... Thanks for helping confirm the OOF birds. the Sharpness issue is somewhat concerning to me as I always try to pride in sharp images or toss them regardless of how much I like them. So not exactly sure what thats all about!


One thing I;ll add and seems to happen allot with me is I find an Image I processed today, looks different to me tomorrow and sometimes even an hour later and I find I go back and fiddle some more, never seeming to be content... This is more the case when I do many images one after another. I seem to do better when I focus on 1 image. and even then sometimes find I often change things, most often suttle, but make changes. I guess trying to always make things better may be a good thing!!!

I agree that looking at an image several times in a day or even a day later can change the way you process it. I often have my girlfriend give me her initial impression which I always find to be valuable and of course posting on this forum provides great feedback and direction as well. I have been enjoying your images.

[Josh Clark]

Great stuff Dan. I see this is one of many BIF shots from KBS you have on your website. Big thanks to Randy and Gary giving us info on the place. Great shooting with you and Jim as always, you guys are so much fun to shoot with. Definately nice to have you guys along when you have the low times of action out in the field, always find something interesting to talk about.

Anyways, back to your image. Love the BIF shot you got here. Those Mallards fly by fast you and did a great job staying spot on them. Love the open beak calling you got as well. Hard to believe there is any motion blur left at 1/5000sec! . I do like the slight blur though, I know that you are a fan of it too. I will have to try your technique you mentioned there of shooting at a higher ISO, hard to argue after seeing your results here. Regarding the OOF ducks, I would have left them in if they had more definition to them. Being as is, I would have considered cloning them out. Definately not a deal breaker leaving them in though, just a sweet shot here Dan. Look forward to next time.

[stuart wanuck]

Nice flight image would agree with loaning and like the sharpening