Ruddy Duck

Stephen, I love these perky little guys and you did pretty well with a tough exposure in bright light. I know of no real "solutions" other than to get them in different lighting. I've learned that trying to resolve issues like this during processing very often, if not usually, causes more problems than it resolves.

Stephen, like Ron says, sometimes the light just makes it hard to get a good looking shot of these high contrast subjects. You don't say what you've tried in terms of processing, but in Adobe Camera Raw the Recovery function can bring back some detail in the whites, and in Photoshop the shadow/highlight tool can too. Again, as Ron alludes to, sometimes these can create weird and undesirable effects elsewhere. I am struggling to learn to use them myself.

In this case, I think you did well with the light you had. I have my share of shots too where the whites aren't blown but there is still not much detail to be had. In this case I do think that the brightness on the cheek is on the distracting side and would try some of the various methods to tone it down. If available, a lower angle would also help (not with the light obviously). Nonetheless, there are a lot of pleasing things about the shot--you've got a nice light in the eye, a good reflection, and a nice look at that blue bill.

These are really hard shots to get in bright light. I have just about given up trying to photograph wigeons, shovelers and ruddy's during bright light conditions and will just wait for an overcast day. Even then it is still a challenge to get the exposure right and I will usually adjust the exposure compensation and try several of the items that Brian talked about in post processing.