I found this gorgeous Bahama Pintail at the outdoor aviary of the National Zoo in DC. He was sitting under a bush on a sunny day, which made for stunning lighting. I moved around till I found a good angle and he cooperatively let me get fairly close, watching me the enire time, which resulted in an expression that really grabs me and great detail. Classic portrait that really does him justice. I know some folks hate duck pictures but I LOVE this shot :-)
PP - converted from RAW, cropped, levels, 2nd layer to reduce noise (Gaussian blur, lightened, merged in multiply mode), increased contrast, burnt remaining bits of color in the background, dodged/burnt eye a little, colored feathers reflecting something red to tan to match the rest of him, 3rd layer (painted black on his spots, merged in soft light mode), cloned some texture onto the blown cheek, added border, resized, sharpened with noise reduction.
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I have a wood carving of a Pintail Drake which I purchased 25 yrs ago and gave to my mother as a gift. This is a lovely capture and the detail and lighting is extraordinary! Excellent job!!
okay, it would seem snarky to say this is the best Duck Portrait I have ever seen--since it is the ONLY duck portrait I have ever seen. So let me follow with: WOW--this is very out-of-the box: how many would have thought to do a Duck Portrait, and then if they did, how many would have done such a perfect and beautiful one? I am guessing the answer, amazingly enough is One, and then One again. And this is also, portraiture aside, this is the best image of a duck I have ever seen. 10
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