Shoveler drake

Gallery: AvianPosted February 26, 201482 views4 comments

I photographed this Northern shoveler drake in breeding colors on a small lake in a park in Richardson, Texas. I like the good look at the yellow eye and the shovel bill. A very cool-looking bird IMO.

D300s 200-400/4 w/ TC 14 HH

1/640 @ f5.6 ISO 800

Thanks for looking and commenting

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 26, 2014 at 12:36 PM

Lots of these guys in the Dallas/Fort Worth area this time of year. They are one of my favorite subjects. You have managed a nice low prospective here. I think you might be able to coax some additional detail and color from that head. As you know, it is a marvelous irredescent green.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 26, 2014 at 2:55 PM

Very nice low angle and head turn Robert, I agree with Jerry on the head, these birds are really tough exposures to get the whites right and still get the bright green of the head.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on February 27, 2014 at 7:48 PM

Nice pose and the low angle helps a lots. I'm inclined to agree with Jerry on opening it up more. If you aren't comfortable using luminosity masks, try doing a single image tone mapping on this with your favorite HDR software. Just pull back on the saturation to keep it looking natural.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 27, 2014 at 9:38 PM

Nice job on this one, Bob. I like the low angle and te head turn and exposure are excellent.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments