Natural Finery Photo

Photographer’s Note

Spring is definitely coming, but it's still a slow process. Our little lake still covers up in ice during the night, and although some or most of the ice melts during certain days, other days see the lake covered from morning till night. This was one such day. My dog (who else? ;-)) scared this little lady while she was peacefully rummaging for food in the brook near the lake. The brook has running water and therefore stays free of ice most of the time. Little Lady Mallard flew across the pathway and landed on the ice-covered lake, still adorned in her natural finery collected while working the brook. She stood there for a while watching me out of the corner of her eye, and she didn't make any moves to rid herself of the weed clinging to her bill. Eventually, she flew off along the brook, probably to look for a quieter place to have lunch ;-)
Treatment: Crop, contrast +10, saturation +10, USM and resize.

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Critiques | Translate

nainconnu (351) 2004-03-08 17:23

Belles couleurs et surtout beaucoup de netteté. La profondeur de champ a été super bien contrôlé. La composition parfaite. Excellent travail, kudos!

hdl (6737) 2004-03-08 17:34

Again a good bird picture. It has a very good sharpness and the ice is a nice detail. Good colours too.

Liora (1857) 2004-03-08 17:47

Cute... she (?) really looks like a lady posing for the camera. Good colors and well detailed. Well done!

RobBrown (1789) 2004-03-08 18:04

You are really are goig to have to change these stuffed ducks you are using for models, you can see the od bit of stuffing coming adrift (sorry ;0))))))# )
she is beautifully seen the look on her face says it all. feather detail shows really well, I note that her feet are not as orange as ours, could be because with your colder weather they are not into breeding mode yet. yet another nice one.

wbrown (59) 2004-03-08 20:09

Great shot! Very nice composition, dof, and the clarity is just perfect. I have been to Arhus many a time, I love it there.

henrye (3498) 2004-03-09 4:16

This is good bird photography. The DOF is great, the colors are vivid, the details are sharp and the light is good. Nice pose you captured, its very interesting, and the composition is good too. Well done!!!

Jeppe (18623) 2004-03-09 4:44

Great capture and a special decoration for a mallard (or any animal ;-) I like the fine details in the feathers, the look in her face and the texture of the ice. Very good work Bente - congratulation.

summer89 (5414) 2004-03-09 5:48

Great Bente.

I like to photograf Mallard, they are beatifull and you get a wonderfull composition. Very good water color and excelent detail.

Well done

mogens-j (56) 2004-03-09 17:44

Very nice female you captured here Bente - I guess she is from the small pond where we met some days ago while it was frozen. Colours are great and it has a lot of details.

yesterday (9787) 2004-05-08 5:14

WOW I love this one.

The thin ice, and the piece of seaweed, make this photo dif.

There is one thing, WONDERFUL light in it, excellent contrast, great sharp, Splendid photo.