Preening teal

Gallery: AvianPosted September 9, 2010118 views13 comments

I was out early last week hoping for migrating shorebirds and my favorite mud flat was 2 inches underwater bringing in lots of ducks and not much else. This Blue Winged teal had a grand time preening with water flying in all directions. It wasn't until I brought this image up on my computer that I apprecated the halo formed by the water droplets. Straightened slightly and cropped to 8x10 proportions. C and C welcome.

1D4, 500 f4, 1.4x, iso 800, f 5.6, 1/3200, propped on gunwale of kayak

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on September 9, 2010 at 10:36 PM

Ha! love the water drops flying through the air! Nice warm light on the subject and interesting composition.

".....my favorite mud flat...." - Only a nature photographer would understand that.

Nicely done.

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on September 9, 2010 at 10:57 PM

Superb shot, Keith!

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on September 9, 2010 at 11:48 PM

Beautiful light and water; the droplets are wonderful! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on September 9, 2010 at 11:59 PM

Keith,
Love the reflection and the water spray drops. The background color is gorgeous. Nice and sharp as well. Gotta love a kayak for these low angle shots. Nicely done Keith.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on September 10, 2010 at 10:20 AM

Nice capture Keith. I also like the halo with the water droplets, but that reflection adds a lot to this also!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on September 10, 2010 at 10:29 AM

Beautiful image, Keith. I love the pose, the water droplets all around and the background. The reflection is a bonus.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on September 10, 2010 at 10:54 AM

Delightful image. I like the color tones and of course the splash.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on September 10, 2010 at 11:45 AM

The water drops are great Keith. I also like the light and sharpness of the bird's head and back area. I checked the levelness of this in PS and it still needs a bit more CW rotation, but I am afraid doing that would result in loss of the water drops closest to the RHS of the image. Very cool as posted.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Diller on September 10, 2010 at 4:02 PM

Love them water drops in mid-air! Nice reflection as well.

Registered on October 2, 2009, 69 Posts, 434 Comments

Comment posted by Geoffrey Baker on September 10, 2010 at 6:45 PM

This is great, I love the water droplets flying through the air

Well done.

Geoff.

Registered on August 20, 2010, 192 Posts, 980 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 10, 2010 at 7:46 PM

Now there's a "halo" I can thoroughly appreciate Keith.

The facial expression fits the action perfectly so the closed eye works. I quite enjoy this image.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on September 11, 2010 at 1:24 AM

Like the circle of water droplets and the pose. Well done!

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on September 11, 2010 at 12:56 PM

I love the halo effect of the water Keith, your great low angle and the action

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments