Green-Winged Teal portrait

[pat lillich]

Alan and I checked out Golden Gate Park yesterday - first time there looking for birds. We decided winter solstice might not have been the best time for looking for light....

But at Lloyd Lake there were a bunch of ringnecked ducks and one very pretty green-winged Teal. most of the time he stayed off in the shadows, but this time he came out into the sun.

1/1600 @f/6.3 manual mode, iso 640 1d mkIV, EF500 f/4, handheld (and very happy he was fairly sharp in spite of it!)

a few spots cloned out of the water and cropped with noise reduction on the background and an attempt to lighten the shadow on the back of the head a little.

[Ian Cassell]

Very nice, Pat. These guys usually swim out of lens range for me. The shadow on the back is a bit overpowering, but maybe you could lighten it a bit more.

[Chuck Fritsch]

Very nice pose. I think you can lighten the whole image with the exception of the light breast area. The shadow on the back needs special attention. Maybe a masked curves layer to lighten the whole image and a shadow/highlight adjustment for the shadow will please you.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice details, it's a bit big in the frame a lower angle would have been better too but the main issue here is the light angle that has created harsh shadows

[pat lillich]

thank you all for your suggestions on how it could be a better image.

I gave him a bit more room and had some fun trying to lighten the whole image(except the bright breast) a bit, and playing with the big dark splotch on his back - though now i'm afraid he has a big slightly blurred area there - but i can see how it might be possible to do careful improvement after much practice. ----- Of course, much wiser just to only take the photo when the light is good -

[Blake Cook]

Wonderful image. Serenity...

[Chuck Fritsch]

thank you all for your suggestions on how it could be a better image.

I gave him a bit more room and had some fun trying to lighten the whole image(except the bright breast) a bit, and playing with the big dark splotch on his back - though now i'm afraid he has a big slightly blurred area there - but i can see how it might be possible to do careful improvement after much practice. ----- Of course, much wiser just to only take the photo when the light is good -

An alternative to waiting for better light is to use fill flash.