by Jim DeWitt
Canon 1D-X, 500mm f4 x 1.4 TC, handheld
f9, 1/800, ISO200
My favorite duck, it lives in saltwater tidal zones but breeds far inland in white water rivers. Spectacularly agile moving in white water. My theory is the drake is so colorful to draw attention away from the drabber hen, not just sexual selection. This shot was taken this weekend on the upper Gulkana River, 150 miles from saltwater.
70% of full frame. Slight adjustment to highlights. Selective sharpening of bird. I'd like better definition of the bill against the light-colored rock, but I'm unwilling to make that great an alteration to color and brightness.
C & C, please. Thanks for looking.
Comments
6 commentsNice species and dito shot Jim ! I always understood they only come upstream for mating, and after that spend the rest of the time back at sea, making the hen taking care of everything. At any rate a wonderful shot with nice colors ! Cheers, Hans
Good detail in the dark colors and yet you were able to keep detail in the whites (especially the white feathers on the top back end of the duck). If it were mine, I would clone out the bright spots on the rockl in front of the duck.
He looks great Jim, excellent exposure and tack sharp from head to tail. I agree on taking out the white reflections on the rock.
Nice one, Jim. Excellent detail and I like the water in the river. The lack of contrast between the bill and bg doesn't bother me.
A sweet portrait of this handsome drake in his white water habitat. Great pose excellent details.
Sweet One Jim!
Always dream of getting a chance to photograph these one day. Nice environment, but I do wish the BG had a little more contrast. The ducks bill gets lost a little bit against the rocks. Not sure what I would try to create more contrast between them, but lots of options to try (i.e., burn and dodge). I would most likely play around a bit until I found something which worked. I honestly don't think there was any way to prevent it in the field.