Landing Mallard Drake

Gallery: AvianPosted January 3, 20182,067 views11 comments

I spent Christmas in Prairie du Chien along the Mississippi River. The eagles were few and far between, but the ducks were more cooperative. Comments and critiques welcome.

Canon 1DX Mark II
Canon 200-400 f4 L IS
f5.6
1/8000s
Focal Length 400mm
ISO 800

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on January 3, 2018 at 11:16 AM

Large version is excellent Jerry. Love the feather and color detail, the wing position and the look in the eye. Motion blur in back wing is perfect. Very nit picky and not at all necessary, but if there is a bit more room at the bottom it may strengthen the overall composition for my tastes.

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 3, 2018 at 11:42 PM

Nice wing position and great timing on this one Jerry! I really like the BG snow, it makes the Mallard pop off the page.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 4, 2018 at 4:45 AM

Jerry, Great wing position, detail, and snowy BG.
A little more room - easy to fill in with "content aware" if necessary - would be good.
Super image!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 4, 2018 at 12:59 PM

Good catch of the "gears down" landing, Must have been harsh light.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 4, 2018 at 1:21 PM

Lovely image, Jerry. You really caught the action well. My only nit is the double image on the far wing. It can't be motion blur at 1/8000. I have a feeling you accidentally jogged the position of a layer or something similar there.

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

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on January 4, 2018 at 1:58 PM

Dennis, I also noticed the double image on the wing. It is on the original RAW file right out of the camera. Not sure what it is.

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

Comment posted by David Bogener on January 4, 2018 at 2:45 PM

Cool landing pose, nice detail and color. Well done.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on January 4, 2018 at 5:31 PM

What a great pose in some perfect light. I would agree with the point that was made about more room below being optimal, mainly because the subject appears to be moving and is looking in a downward direction, but it's a fine capture regardless.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on January 4, 2018 at 5:53 PM

This is an alternate crop with more room at the bottom. In order to accomplish this, I had to clone out a dark object in the lower left corner.

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

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 6, 2018 at 12:02 PM

Great shot, Jerry - well-exposed, great moment captured! Tack sharp, techs are perfect ! devil

. Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on January 7, 2018 at 5:54 AM

I like this one even more than the mallard hen shot.
Lovely exposure and great detail.

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