Wood Duck

Gallery: AvianPosted January 2, 2014138 views7 comments

D300s 150-500mm at 500mm
ISO 2000
1/160s at f11 ev 2.00 WB manual Center Weighted Average
Hand held
Original JPEG file not cropped
Photoshop CS

This is one of dozens of frames I took of the Wood Duck enjoying unfettered liberty on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. In this shot I’m going for simplicity; back lit and no chi-chi. I’m hoping to convey an air of wistful serenity.

Your comments, suggestions and criticisms are most welcome.
Thanks for looking

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 2, 2014 at 10:01 AM

David: I think you have a pleasant image. The wood duck and reflection are nice. The image looks over exposed to me. I see you have exposure compensation at +2. The blue in the water feels pretty unnatural with the color it rendered at that exposure.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on January 2, 2014 at 10:46 AM

Thanks Keith. With the lighting situation in this shot I wasn't sure how to get sufficient detail from the bird. I had a field day, photographing the Wood Duck in a large number of different attitudes - some of the other 'water-effects' were downright weird.

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 2, 2014 at 10:49 AM

I wasn't sure how to get sufficient detail from the bird.

This looks like a great opportunity to use fill flash. Fill would have allowed you to properly expose the duck with flash being the source to fill in the shadowed side of the backlit duck, then let the ambient exposure take care of the rest of the image with your choice of exposure compensation. Flash is an incredibly important tool in any photographers arsenal.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on January 2, 2014 at 1:53 PM

Keith: Many thanks for your very constructive comment. The use of fill flash would never have entered my head.

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments

Comment posted by Sandy Scott on January 2, 2014 at 6:17 PM

Beautiful!!

Registered on December 6, 2013, 85 Posts, 345 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 2, 2014 at 9:46 PM

nice job getting close enough to fill the frame with this Wood Duck! backlighting is certainly difficult conditions, and the histogram for this is definitely pushed up against the right edge. fill flash or waiting for an opportunity with better light are probably the best bets. I really like how you can see this guy's foot beneath the water.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on January 5, 2014 at 1:17 AM

Thanks Brian and I'm pondering the fill-flash technique. Would the illumination of the subject not be compromised by 500 mm of lens out front plus the wide lens hood? In this instance I took many alternative shots with direct light. Most of the shots were close up and the bird was most cooperative. The basic plumage of this drake is terrific but the colored interference patterns are simply out of this world.

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments