YAPNWD

Gallery: AvianPosted May 21, 2013105 views10 comments

Yet Another Pacific Northwest Wood Duck

At a local park, lying down on the bank (thanks to Hans for mentioning that over and over again in his posts so that it sunk in

Full mid-day sun, good for the feather iridescence, but hard for me to work with post processing as it seems to make everything duller. I'm finding it hard to get back natural looking contrast and color and I wonder if I boosted the contrast on this too far, although anything less seemed dull or flat in an unnatural way.

I also tried a profile crop for awhile, with just the head and reflection, about 25-30% of full frame, focusing on the iridescence and reflection, but just never thought there was enough IQ to make it work, so fell back to the standard'ish crop.

D7000, Sigma 150-500 @ 500mm/750mm equiv
1/640, f6.3, ISO 400, -1/3 from matrix meter
HH, 80% of full frame

LR4 post, WB adjust, exp -0.35 more, contrast +38, some highlight recovery, just the standard LR light +25 sharpen before output sharpening. Cloned out a lower catchlight in the eye, which seemed distracting.

The raw NEF is available at https://mega.co.nz/#!yNkHFYhJ!eAh8-UrKXRiJt7pWfBfcdlJob116imjTiMbmpHKpBmM for anyone in a shameless attempt to get me more and/or more informed C&C

thanks for looking.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Claude Dagenais on May 21, 2013 at 6:37 AM

Well done Jeff, I do find that the contrast is a bit much but the exposure was pretty well right on.

Registered on April 10, 2013, 56 Posts, 571 Comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on May 21, 2013 at 6:42 AM

Lovely bird, exquisite markings.
It looks as though some of the whites need pulling back a bit and the glare on the bill could also do with a reduction in brightness but a beautiful bird none the less.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on May 21, 2013 at 8:44 AM

Pretty bird, Jeff. As you've said, mid day sun is difficult to deal with at times. A little hot in places but a nice shot. Feels a little cramped. A little more room all around if it's there would help.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on May 21, 2013 at 11:33 AM

It looks like you've got the technique down and a great location to photograph the wood ducks. Try to return early morning or late evening and you will have a great image.

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 21, 2013 at 11:48 AM

A nice shot and the low angle while still preserving the reflection is sweet. A Wood Duck is among the hardest birds I've encountered to expose. After days of effort at parks in Boise, I've concluded a cloudy day or the hour after sunrise are the best times. Any time else and you get blown whites of featureless blacks. And if you do manage the whites and blacks, either the reds in the eye blow out or you get glare off a wet area. You've got quite a good effort here.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on May 21, 2013 at 12:34 PM

They certainly have some amazing color but like Jim D has mentioned they are just about impossible to get in bright light conditions. I learned to pass on wood duck shots in bright light and would also wait for cloudy or low light conditions. I do like the low perspective and seeing some of the iridescent colors.

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

Comment posted by Jeff Lewis on May 21, 2013 at 1:14 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone, I will definitely try getting some shots in different lighting conditions. For this one, here's another version with a slight reduction in exposure, the contrast dialed back, the whites pulled back a little more, and a little more room everywhere but at the top, which is flush with the full frame. Thanks again for the help.

Registered on January 29, 2013, 9 Posts, 89 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on May 21, 2013 at 11:54 PM

I love the result here of your mid day efforts. Given the light and colors your working with I think is very nice!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on May 23, 2013 at 1:33 AM

Beautiful shot of a beautiful bird. I like the repost better - the colors look more natural to me. But then, what can I say, I have never seen one.

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on May 23, 2013 at 4:24 PM

Not bad for the harsh light...I would back off on contrast a bit. Sharon

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