Male Bufflehead

Gallery: AvianPosted February 23, 2014140 views8 comments

February 21, 2014 at Jess Ranch in Apple Valley, California

Nikon D4 Nikkor 600mm 1.4TC 850mm 1/1250 F/8 ISO400 White Balance Sun Processed in Lightroom, CS6, NIK and TK. Cropped about 30%.

I have not had good luck in the past photographing Buffleheads. This was taken in the water hazard of the golf course just outside my mother-in-law's new home. The hazard is not that large and the golfers coming by every 10 minutes caused them to be a little more used to people. Consequently I was able to get fairly close.

Comments welcome

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 23, 2014 at 6:40 AM

A very nice shot considering the bright light and dealing with the Bufflehead color contrast. A couple of hot spots but I really like the head turn to show off some iridescent colors and the blue water compliments the overall image. Good job in getting a difficult shot, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 23, 2014 at 2:14 PM

Hello Patrick

Well captured with excellent detail.

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on February 23, 2014 at 3:12 PM

Gotta love these guys. Their colors are great. Nice details in the head and showing off the colors. Neck looks a bit hot as does the white on the sides. I might look at bringing down the luminosity and saturation of the blue a bit. Still a nice image.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 23, 2014 at 6:47 PM

Nice job, Patrick. I was frustrated by these last week at the Klamath Basin wildlife refuges. They would go skittering or swimming away just outside of decent camera range. The one time I got within range for a few frames my settings were all wrong and I blew the whites to kingdom come! I love the lifted head and the slight turn to bring out the iridescence.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on February 24, 2014 at 1:05 AM

A very attractive subject. Focus looks good and he has nice detail in the head and back. On my monitor it looks like there may be some loss on the breast and near shoulder. If you see the same, it should only take a slight pull back on the highlights to recover it. I really like the iridescence that is showing in the head feathers. The water seems a little over saturated to me. I'd be inclined to pull that back so it isn't competing with him.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on February 24, 2014 at 3:13 PM

Patrick,
Way to go. Was this from the afternoon or the morning location? Regardless, nice capture showing off the iridescence on head. Good head turn and eye contact and good light on the blacks. Couple hot spots but almost impossible not to hot spots with these guys unless shooting in cloudy conditions. Water looks a little too cyan to me but could be my monitor. Very nice Patrick. If you change your mind about Tuesday afternoon let me know.

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

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 26, 2014 at 2:15 AM

I love these ducks. I have yet to get a decent image of one, however. For me, the water looks a tad over saturated. If you pull back on that a bit, I think the focus will be on the bufflehead. This is a potentially great image, and if it were mine, I would spend some more time on it and then repost. Nice capture.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on February 27, 2014 at 8:20 PM

Nice one, Patrick. Yes, this looks like golf course water.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments