A Real Head Turner, Part One

The blue-winged drake is a beautiful bird. The highlight areas for me are the head colors, the chest and side pockets, and the amazing wing colors.

To showcase these features, I decided to do a bold one-piece pose. I pulled the head back and up to expose the chest, and I pulled one wing out to show the beautiful speculum and the powder blue wing coverts. Keep in mind that this pose is not for a beginner. To tackle a fancy pose like this you need to have already developed beyond novice and be competitive at the amateur level. You will also need a good knowledge of the bird’s anatomy. Most important, you need a vision of what you want to create.

This article is from the Fall 2012 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.