Gadwall( juvie) wing flap. my first duck post of the new season.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

40D. 400 f5.6L at f/6.3. iso 400. 1/2000s. warm evening light. bottom AF point used.

I haven't had a lot of success with wing flaps....lot of things have to come together right(bird orientation, light angle, distance, BG) and I usually miss a couple :-) On Sunday, I got my best so far. Hope you like it. We've got better fall colors than usual this year.

I had thought 1/2000 might be sufficient but fell a tad short.

All critiques welcome.

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Kaustubh! I like the lighting, details, wing position, HA and your signature low angle. Look forward to seeing more.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Great stuff KD, I think the wing blur works great... and wish you more.

[Randy Stout]

Kaustubh:

I like the pose with the slight turn towards us.

Good shooting angle as always. Well exposed.

I am not thrilled with the distinct line in the upper background, and might try softening it a bit, or crop off the top and then extend the remaining even bg to balance it out.

I like the fall colors, but the hard line makes them less successful in this shot.

Cheers

Randy

[Sachin Saraf]

What a fantastic Shot KD...Loved the Fall colors in BG and nice wing position..Agree with Randy for the hard line.

[Josh Clark]

I know the feeling Kaustubh with regards to wing flaps. Great post of this Gadwall. I personally think 1/2000sec is right on the money. I like photos that have slight wing blur at the tips, conveys a sense of motion within the action. All personal preference though. As I said though, in this case, I think it works very well with what you presented. The touch of fall colors is nice as well.

[Brendan Dozier]

Very nice, Kaustubh! Great wing flap pose and beautiful colors. Love the soft look to this one, the bit of wing blur works well with the whole composition. Nice low angle, and agree with Randy's suggestion to soften to soften line above. Nice work!

[Bill Dix]

It did all come together here. I love the light and color, and sharpness of the head in perfect position. I'm fine with blurred wingtips in action, but might have liked a little more SS here. And another vote to soften the hard bg line.

[Gary Esman]

Love the pose here. The almost extended wings are something we do not see a lot of. Great low angle as always and of course your exposure is spot on. I like it a lot.

Gary.

[Dan Busby]

Very nice Kaustubh. I don't mind the wing blur - it adds life and assures us that it isn't a museum mount . Great angle, pose and detail. Also like the few water droplet splashes. The two dominant bands of the BG detract a bit from the bird but provide that "fall" look. If mine, I might try to bring the light band up to the top of the frame, eliminating the strong top band. But that's pretty drastic and, well, may be more than you find acceptable.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the image but.... Not a fan of the boxy crop. So I took Randy's suggestion with a 25 pixel Gaussian blur on the fall color and small crop top and bottom. Love the soft light and the wing position and pretty much everything else about this one.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent Kaustubh. I also like it without the sharp line

[Bryan Hix]

Agree with the suggestions and I think Artie's fix works out nicely. Love those low angles!

[Doug Brown]

Beautiful shot, and Artie's repost fixes my only issue with an otherwise excellent image.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Very nice pose, shooting angle & wing position. excellent underwing details. Like the Randy's suggestion & Artie's repost. TFS

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Fantastic light, pose and low angle, Kaustubh. The bird is angled just perfectly. Great work.

[Ofer Levy]

Yes, Artie's repost improves this beautiful image! Maybe a slight boost in colours.

[Stu Bowie]

KD, your usual excellent low angle of capture looks great, good body position of the duck, and I like Artie's work on the BG. I really like the detail on the head and beak.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, thx for taking the time. Looks good.

Thx everyone.