Nature Photographers Network
This is the preserved archive of the original Nature Photographers Network. The community continues at naturephotographers.network.
Chestnut Teal
‹ PreviousAvian GalleryNext ›

Chestnut Teal

by Rob Drummond

Gallery: AvianPosted December 28, 2012186 views15 comments
This male is starting to lose his bottle green head as it moults out of breeding plumage.

1DMkIV 500/f4
ISO 800 f7.1 1/320 exp comp +1/3

cheers
Rob

Comments

15 comments
Comment posted by Tjie Poo on December 28, 2012 at 4:19 AM
Great capture of this beautiful bird. The water and reflection are very nice. :toast:
Registered on December 4, 2012, 51 Posts, 511 Comments
Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on December 28, 2012 at 8:11 AM
Real nice capture of the duck and nice soft complimentary water colors. I see several spots on this that would be worth fixing...2 above the tail and one on the head reflection that is not his eye.. Nice details on the head, bill and eye, and I like the wet look you captured on the breast feathers. Sharon
Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments
Comment posted by John Clulow on December 28, 2012 at 8:44 AM
As Tjie and Sharon said, it's interesting how the pastel colors in the water echo those of the bird itself. Interesting for folks like me who know next to nothing about avian photography to read comments from those who do.

This looks like a 2:3 format, and I'm wondering if it couldn't be cropped to a 4:5 format and eliminate the distracting right edge which forms an achromatic bar that almost looks like it should be part of another frame. You also have those two white "bubbles" floating in this region.

I would suggest cropping to put the duck closer to the right rule-of-thirds vertical and lower horizontal intersection and then cloning or smudging in anything that might be needed to fill in in the lower right corner.

Finally, after that, I would produce a frame of white and black which I think will make the colors pop even more.
Registered on November 1, 2012, 155 Posts, 1079 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Turner on December 28, 2012 at 9:37 AM
POV is sensational and plumage beautiful. :wink:
Cheers Rob :toast:
Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments
Comment posted by Tom Lusk on December 28, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Lovely shot of a beautiful species I had not known existed.

The colours are perfect - water vs bird. Good stuff! :toast:
Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments
Comment posted by Hans Overduin on December 28, 2012 at 10:29 AM
Wow, nice species ! Never seen it before, thanks for sharing. And oh yes, the shot is great as well :wink: , cheers, Hans
Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 28, 2012 at 10:37 AM
A new species for me as well - very colorful and quite interesting. Nice detail and low POV.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Robert Bunch on December 28, 2012 at 10:44 AM
Looks beautiful to me just as it is. I love the colors on this duck. Excellent!
Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments
Comment posted by S Govindarajan on December 28, 2012 at 2:15 PM
Very colorful duck, Rob. I like your capture and presentation very much. The eye really stands out in the dark head. The muted reflections also add to the image. :toast:
Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments
Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 28, 2012 at 3:32 PM
nice one, Rob. I love how the colors of the duck are also present in the water. I agree about maybe cleaning up some of those dots.
Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 28, 2012 at 6:19 PM
Wow, what a unique subject, Rob. Neat colors and the duck looks great. Great job getting low on the bird.
Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments
Comment posted by Verdon on December 28, 2012 at 6:33 PM
excellent shot with stunning detail, love the low POW, well done!!! :wavey: :toast: :wavey:
Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Archer on December 28, 2012 at 11:47 PM
A beautiful portrait of this great looking duck, love that red eye. Nice low perspective and details.

Sweet One Rob :cool:

Ken Archer
Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments
Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on December 29, 2012 at 6:34 AM
Great shot. Love the very low POV, reflections and details. I didn't know this bird species existed. Thanks for posting.
Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments
Comment posted by Simon Bennett on December 30, 2012 at 6:13 PM
Beautiful capture and duck.
Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments