Wood Duck Pose

Gallery: AvianPosted January 19, 2013227 views13 comments

Jim Hackley posted a similar photo a week ago that he took at Oak Canyon Nature Center in Anaheim Hills, CA. This photo is a tribute to him for all the sharing he does on NPN. I hope this is not considered to be "tail-gating" posting a similar photo from the location he shared with me. We had a tremendous morning yesterday photographing these ducks in an incredible setting.
January 18, 2013

D800 Nikkor 200-400mm lens f/4 1/125 ISO2000 RAW center weighted image 400mm white balance auto processed in CS6 and NIK Taken on a tripod with a Wimberley gimbal.

Comments welcome

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 19, 2013 at 11:13 PM

Great pose, comp and water. Real nice head turn on this handsome fella! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 19, 2013 at 11:31 PM

Terrific image Patrick. The setting is interesting but in no way detracts from this most colorful duck. D800 seems to have delivered excellent noise characteristics at this high (2000) iso. or did you use some noise reduction in post?

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on January 20, 2013 at 1:44 PM

One of the best woodie images I've seen in awhile. Getting all the colors and whites right on a woodie is a challenge. Good job.

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

Comment posted by Skip Layman on January 20, 2013 at 2:57 PM

Beautiful woodie!!

I might consider trying a crop of some of the right side of this picture, but that's just personal taste.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 558 Posts, 1704 Comments

Comment posted by Don Westbrook on January 20, 2013 at 5:02 PM

Great composition, detail and colors. I agree with Jerry that this is one of the best images I have seen of a wood duck.

Registered on January 4, 2013, 11 Posts, 332 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on January 20, 2013 at 8:55 PM

Wow! This is ISO 2000? I could not accomplish this at ISO 1600 with my trusty old D300.

Beautiful comp and colors. I really wish this was mine. Where's the jealousy emoticon???

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 20, 2013 at 10:40 PM

Depending on the time of day and light that spot can produce some interesting background reflections. Wonderful pose with the head turn to display the iridescent colors along the head and the larger image has some very nice detail. They are really amazing ducks with their color scheme but getting a nice picture of one is another thing and you have certainly done that. Thank you for your nice comments and I was glad the Wood Ducks were still there for you and Tjie.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Verdon on January 20, 2013 at 11:24 PM

sweet quality , pose and detail, well executed

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Roberts on January 20, 2013 at 11:56 PM

The large version is awesome. You really nailed the technicals and it's a great position on the bird.

Registered on March 9, 2011, 69 Posts, 501 Comments

Comment posted by Chet Dowell on January 21, 2013 at 5:56 PM

Outstanding!!

Chet

Registered on December 3, 2012, 237 Posts, 1171 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Adams on January 21, 2013 at 9:34 PM

Beautiful! Nice tribute.

Registered on January 24, 2006, 119 Posts, 1871 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 21, 2013 at 11:03 PM

Very nice image. I like the composition. Nice details. There are a couple of minor things I'd do to the image. Minor, but I'd remove or clone the brightest edges on the top right corner. May burn the tip of the log just a touch. Nice image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on January 23, 2013 at 12:13 PM

Wonderful over the shoulder look, and superb detail and lighting, Patrick. Well done!

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments