Duck!

[Luis Gonzalez Jr]

Took this at the Los Angeles Zoo on February 4, 2012 using my Pentax K10D, 75-300mm @ 270mm f/5.6 1/90 shutter ISO 400 Hand held, manual mode, manual focus. This is the first picture I am posting on the BPN forum but hopefully it's not my last

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Luis, and welcome to eager to learn! Good job on this first post, much better than my first one! What I think you captured is a Canada Goose, not a duck (there are others on the forum who might know better than me). While the plumage is different, the head shape and down-turned bill as well as the neck are very goose-like - maybe a variant individual. You got a good amount of detail given the low shutter speed, could use a touch more sharpening. Not much noise, but you could use a round of NR on the background. I would crop from the right, as the space on the right is not really adding to the composition. I would evict that out of focus blade of grass, is it crossing if front of the bird? Well done overall, look forward to more.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Luis,

Portraits can be a strong way to show a subject in this case the head angle and eye make the shot work. Nice first post as mentioned by Kerry and he hit the main points regarding composition and distracting elements in the frame. Remember you control what goes in the frame and what is excluded. Most amatures including me are always trying to balance the image allowing the eye to focus on the subject and include elements that are complimentary. The exposure techs are fine but try and keep the shutter speed up. These creatures are so beautiful capturing more detail usually strengthens the picture. Keep me coming that's the best way to improve.

[John Chardine]

Hi Luis- Welcome too! I like this portrait. The image is beautifully sharp where it counts. I think you could go tighter on the head and eliminate distracting elements. Too bad about the OOF leave running across the bill. This could be removed. The species is a White-faced Whistling Duck.