Wood Duck Couple

Gallery: AvianPosted April 1, 2016121 views10 comments

Hi all! Finally digging into some of the pictures from our owl and waterfowl outing to BC last month. While not the most artistic of my shortlisted selection, I thought this was pretty cute (and was delighted I caught it as I was not focused on this pair when this interaction began, so had to reposition, swing the lens around, roll the dial on exposure comp and squeeze the shot off...I literally have this one shot of these two!).

I had to rotate the image slightly which required a sliver of extra canvas on the bottom to prevent crowding the reflection (though would still prefer a bit more buffer).

Thank in advance for your time, comments and suggestions! Please view the larger version for better detail!

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Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED with Nikon TC-14EII teleconverter
ISO 1250
1/640sec @ f/9
+1 stop exposure from meter
Mounted on FEISOL CT-3372 Elite tripod with Acratech GV2 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on April 1, 2016 at 9:48 AM

Well, when it works this well, all you need is one.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on April 1, 2016 at 11:46 PM

This is a sweet shot John. Love the colors and the interaction. You may want to work on removing a few distracting spots in the BG.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Kearl on April 2, 2016 at 11:40 AM

Nice high key look, I would remove the spots in the water.

Registered on September 2, 2013, 209 Posts, 1514 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 2, 2016 at 2:01 PM

Terrific interaction you captured here John and the reflection is great. While I am not much of a cloner I would be sorely tempted to remove the out of focus objects in the water here. With that high key background I think this will really sing without them. devil

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 2, 2016 at 2:19 PM

Cool interaction and excellent exposure on the ducks, John. If you don't have to keep them for contest rules or something, I think I'd clone the oof blobs above the birds as I really don't see them adding anything to the composition.

devil

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

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on April 2, 2016 at 10:58 PM

I agree with Nate: a remarkably intimate photo. With the highkey background, I'd seriously consider cloning out those OOF blobs.

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

Comment posted by Yun Gao on April 2, 2016 at 11:19 PM

I really like the interaction here and their expressions. Beautiful colors and high key look. Very nice shot.

Registered on September 11, 2012, 267 Posts, 1621 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on April 3, 2016 at 8:34 AM

Hi John,

Go high key all the way and remove the orange spots. The pose is great and this should make an ideal print for the wall..................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 4, 2016 at 10:14 PM

I like the intimacy here John. Nice moment and great timing. If mine, I would be tempted to clean up the spots. I know they are natural (maybe leaves ro something), but I think they pull the eye a bit.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on April 22, 2016 at 8:48 PM

Many thanks for the comments and suggestions, all! I was sorely tempted to remove the surface debris and end up with a pure HK image, but decided to offer it as shot for feedback. Thanks for providing such!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments