Pintail

Not being sure what to put up as an introductory photo I figured this Northern Pintail was as good a place to start as any.

I liked the late afternoon light hitting this bird. Not sure about the bright grasses on top or the framing I went with on this though. C&C welcome and appreciated.

Shot back in January @ Nisqually NWR
Cropped, about 80% of original frame
A little tweak of contrast, shadow & highlights
D70
ISO 200
420mm @ F4

Good first photo David , I'd crop the grass on the top

- pradeep

Great light and color. I like the composition w/ the bird low in the frame. I also like the grasses on top, but one could make a good argument to crop some of it. My nit is the lack of any sort of detail in the eye.

That is one beautiful duck! Perhaps there is more of a catch light in the eye of the bird in your original image before smashing it into a jpeg? If not, I'd work on that a little. I like the comp, too, but think it might be stonger with an inch or more of the top cropped off. Let's see some more.

Nice comp, nice light, nice sharpness. A hard act to follow.....post again soon!

Thanks everyone.

Unfortunately there isn't much more of a prominent catch light in the larger version of this. I do have quite a few more as there were a lot of Pintails out there that day, tough to pick a favorite.

I do agree Catherine, these ducks have a subtle beauty and elegance. Probably one of my favorite ducks. One of these days I'd like to get some pictures of them in flight to really show off their namesake tails

Dave