Calling Wood Duck

[James Fuller]

I've seen so many fantastic Wood Duck images on here the last week, I thought I'd post one of mine.

1D IV, 800mm, f5.6, 1/200, ISO 500, Fill Flash with Better Beamer at -2.

The background of this image was a lot brighter than the bird. I did as much as I could in post processing to bring it down. Used shadowhighlights and selective color tools.

[Landon Starnes]

Awesome image James! I like the low angle, calling pose and colors. If mine (wish it were!) I might remove the second catch light.

[Don Lacy]

Hi James beautiful colors on the Duck I played around with this just a little in PS to tone down the BG a bit more I just used a simple curve adjustment and a layer mask.

[Arthur Morris]

Mr. Fuller. It is great to see you here! If you would like to learn more about James, check out my blog post on his great work here. (His Green Jay pair is to die for.)

The image is superb and the repost is a bit better. Love the calling pose and the purple cheek patch and the soft light. Some might suggest a bit more room behind the bird and I would not argue with them. Love the crest and the perfect head angle.

[James Fuller]

Thanks Don, I gave it another try. Hopefully it looks as good as your repost.

Good to be here Artie! I do have another inch I could add behind so I might try that as well.

[Arthur Morris]

It could use the inch :). Good job on the BKGR.

[Randy Stout]

James:

Like the second repost, larger size, nice head angle, stretched neck, erect crest, calling pose, and even a purple cheek patch for Artie.

I would add a sliver more on the left.

The bird looks a bit flat ( low contrast). I boosted the contrast selectively on the bird a bit and found it gave a little more definition.

Cheers

Randy

[Dan Behm]

James,
I love the alert calling pose,eye contact with a nice display of the crest, The BG being as bright as it is does detract some and the edit soothes that a great deal, a pleasing image.

Dan

[Marc Mol]

Fantastic light, colour and detail, with the 2nd RP doing it justice James.
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

James, All the colours stand out in the image, and I really like the low angled pose of the wood duck. I do prefer the larger version.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Repost is a big improvement and still feel it could be toned down further in brightness...Lovely colors and surroundings also prefer seeing it larger!

[Doug Brown]

How about this version. I reduced what looked like a magenta cast on the bird, added a bit of brightness and contrast to the bird, and reduced BG brightness a bit more. Improvement or not?

[James Fuller]

I do think it is an improvement...Thanks Doug. I've got so many layers on this one in Photoshop, think I might start over.