Female Wood Duck and offspring

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

This was taken mid July 2018 at the McLain Creek wetland area near Olympia, Washington. This is a great place to see Redwing Blackbirds, Warblers, Wood Ducks and a lot of vegetation. There is a lot of shade because it is in the valley so sometimes one must deal with harsh lighting conditions. Wetland images to me are always a challenge because getting clear shots of the wildlife without glare from the water is sometimes difficult. I like the behavior here. A few blades of grass were cloned away. I’m aware this could use a little more room in the lower left corner but this was full frame and content aware would not do a good job.

Iso-500, 600 mm, F7 .1, 2000th, D 500, tripod, full frame, Adobe camera raw 10.3, Topaz adjust, TK sharpening action at 30%

wood-duck-%26-kids-copy
wood-duck-%26-kids-copy2000×1223 2.64 MB

2

David, I think this is a good look at this family of Woodies. Mom’s pose is quite striking and having the two youngsters in the lower left corner surrounded by grasses speaks well to the family’s survival instincts. The “messy” surroundings are exactly where you expect to find these ducks. If you want to draw less attention to the log that the yongster’s are sitting on, some burning-in should work.

3

Beautiful family portrait, David. She would probably like to have a copy! :yum: Wonderful detail in all the ducks, grass, and surroundings, with the out of focus pond in the background. Very nice.

4

Here is a version with

wood-duck-%26-kids-2-copy
wood-duck-%26-kids-2-copy2000×1280 2.77 MB
a slightly different crop. I burned in the log below the ducklings and added a tiny bit of canvas using content aware.

5

I think the burning-in of the limb, llc, looks very good as it lets the eye highlights and the white of the youngster’s breasts pull my eyes to that area.