Mrs. Woodie

Gallery: AvianPosted August 10, 2014401 views9 comments

NIkon D4
600mm NO T/C
F/5
1/1250
ISO 1250
WB Auto
Shot December, 2013 (San Diego)
Tripod with Wimberley head
Cropped 77% not much left :(
Got this shot in San Diego last December. This is early in the morning as this female Wood Duck is coming in for a landing. She was up feeding in an oak tree that has branches hanging over the water and Wood Ducks love acorns. I had set up hoping to get this type of shot but it is very tricky. They pretty much just fall out of the tree into the water and you have about 1 second to lock and fire. It was not as easy as I was hoping and this is the only shot I got most of the winter. Plus, since the tree is blocking the light and you can only shoot in the morning when they are feeding you have to hope they go through some sort of light before they hit the water. Water color is a reflection of reeds and plants on the bank nearby.
Anyway, I love wood ducks. Hope you do too.
Let me know if I can improve this in any way. Thanks for having a look see. Larger image provided for a better look. :)

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 10, 2014 at 7:01 PM

Nice wing position i this one David. I have a couple of these somewhere I never posted. Glad to see someone posting the female for a change. Nice work.

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

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on August 10, 2014 at 8:03 PM

This is really nice, David. I like the wing position with just a hint of motion at the tips. Well done.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on August 10, 2014 at 8:37 PM

Beautiful, David! You have shown her off in a most flattering way. I love the wing position and personally like the wings blurred as they are here. Detail and sharpness on the face, feet and close wing are stunning, as are the incredible colours on her wing feathers. The background is very pleasing, too, and I would argue the comp is pretty much perfect for this capture.

The larger version does show just a hint of the excessive crop in the sharpened facial details, but I'm not sure how you might have improved that given the crop...perhaps despite earlier suggesting the comp was near-perfect, in this case it might be better to crop slightly less for improved IQ (and again, I'm being super picky in even suggesting this as a potential nit).

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on August 10, 2014 at 8:39 PM

Hey David, I love this female woodie shot. Wing position is great and the blue color in the wing really pops. Details are very sharp. Great job!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 10, 2014 at 10:36 PM

Sounds like a really tough assignment you set yourself, David. A nice crisp image, despite the large crop. I like the wing position, though a bit of clearance between the bill and wing would have been nice-maybe another winter

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on August 11, 2014 at 8:05 PM

Good that you got such a clear shot with the both the light and tree working against you David. In a perfect world a higher SS would have completely frozen the wings which I have a preference for, although I know many prefer the implied motion the wing blur conveys. Nice capture.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on August 11, 2014 at 8:36 PM

Considering the tight requirements, it is amazing you met them this well! No nits, but I wonder if you needed this large a crop?

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on August 13, 2014 at 4:54 PM

Love the full extension of the wings here David. A great look at the blue speculum. I think I would prefer the wing tips sharper in this instance but this works well too.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by David Salem on August 13, 2014 at 11:17 PM

Great looking frame Dave. The extended wings pose looks really cool and the techs and detail are all there.
The green water BG really sets her off well. Well done .

Registered on June 25, 2014, 6 Posts, 67 Comments