Bufflehead Duel

Gallery: AvianPosted March 11, 2015145 views7 comments

I found these two guys trying to impress each other and the lady Buffleheads. I like the fact that both are pretty sharp and the water explosion. This was a fairly large crop, but I think it held up relatively well. I have been unable to get closer shots of these guys. There seems to be a certain distance that they will allow and I have been unable to get any closer. Oh well, I will keep trying. Processed using Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC 2014. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 7D Mark II
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f6.3
1/640s
ISO 100
Focal Length 560mm (Teleconverter Engaged)

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on March 12, 2015 at 12:49 AM

Another nice shot of Buffleheads. The colors came out well and the details are sharp.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 12, 2015 at 5:45 AM

Very nice action and colors in this image Jerry! The water drops add a lot. This species we only see here in captivity, as in people's private ponds. Must be a thrill to have them in the wild !

, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on March 12, 2015 at 9:23 AM

Hi Jerry,

Love the "bubble heads"! Great subjects - and you captured some nice action here/

My first reaction to the shot is that it feels over-exposed - I think globally dropping the exposure will strengthen the image and add some beautiful contrast, and if you're into selective editing pulling down the exposure on the water even further than the subjects will add more contrast and visual interest.

I'm always a bit confused when I hear someone say that an image held up "well" to cropping. If an image is technically solid (meaning sharp at 100% magnification, or at 1:1), then cropping should have no negative impact on the image until you take it down to LESS than the number of pixels you're going to display it at (so 720 pixels for the standard-sized image, and 1200 pixels for the larger version). Cropping doesn't reduce image quality - but it can show technical weaknesses that are often hidden by resolution reduction...

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on March 12, 2015 at 10:36 AM

Nice capture Jerry with a bit of action. I like the colors in these guy's, the whites may be a little hot but not bad. That is one of the hardest things for me to judge. Well Done.

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 12, 2015 at 2:37 PM

Nice twofer Jerry. Not easy to get close to one of these guys let alone two. I do wish you had a tiny bit more DOF, but it still works well. I like the flying water. It shows there was some interaction between these guys.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 13, 2015 at 4:29 PM

Beautiful lighting here Jerry, I would have shot this at a higher iso in order to be able to stop down more as the birds weren't on the same focal plane and the back bird isn't as sharp. Nice behavior and exposure captured.

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

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on March 14, 2015 at 8:14 AM

Hi Jerry,

Nice shot with water drops and a pair of BH's. Hard to say about the exposure. You might want to try to work on the bright whites to snag a little more detail out of those regions. Other than that, I like the composition and colors thyat are presented here........................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments