Wood Duck

[Kerry Perkins]

Captured at the Albuquerque Zoo on a day spent with Doug Brown. Tell me what you think is wrong with this image. This is a game that we used to play with Lance Peters, wish he were still around...

7D, EF400mm f/5.6L
Manual mode, f/5.6@1/400 ISO 400 WB 5100K
AI Servo autofocus, hand-held no flash

[Ravi Hirekatur]

Kerry,
Beautiful image of a beautiful bird. My novice mind thinks that it may be a little too tight. I very much like the details in the darker feathers, especially in the iridescent green area. The colors have come out very well. I also like the color and the texture of water around. It seems to me that the image may be a 1/3 stop darker than I would have liked. Nonetheless, it is a great image.

[Cynthia Thayer]

I love this image. I like the composition and the colors are well exposed. I wish the eye was a tad sharper though. Other than that, I love this. Great bird.

[Don Railton]

Hi Kerry

The main problem with this image is that its not in my collection...!

I agree with Cynthia that the eye may need a bit of work, it think lightening however.

DON

[Dan Brown]

Looks great, Kerry! Love the water and the droplet. The eye looks fine to me on my 24 inch monitor. Heck, I can see the buildings behind you reflecting in it!

[Doug West]

I know it would be tight, but I'd either crop out or try to remove the beak
reflection. Since we can't see the head, just seeing the tip of the nose is
kind of distracting.

I also agree with Ravil in trying to increase the exposure a little.

Doug

[Cathy McEntee]

Beautiful image. Love all the feather detail and the water drop on the beak. Eye looks ok on my IPad.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Kerry. I like the image, and the eye, which is almost always problematic with wood ducks, is perfect. However, the dark plummage lacks detail completely. Best bet (IMO and I'm sure you know this)) would have been to overexposed to the point highlights were clipped slightly, and deal with them in post. Of course the overexposure could be corrected in post as well, and detail should show up in the dark plummage. regards~Bill

[Kerry Perkins]

Thanks for your thoughts and feedback! What I was fishing for in this image was the shooting angle. I could not get any lower without getting walked on at the zoo and causing a problem, so this angle is a bit steep. I do love these little flamboyant birds!