A beautiful h. merganser along the boring waterways

[Jack Breakfast]

Greetings, folks! Yesterday I posted a blue merganser and today I shall post one that isn't. That said, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any possible color aberrations. I have a difficulty with this sort of thing, probably because of defects in my brain. Actually I mostly do well by those defects but sometimes my sense of color gets away from me? This picture was taken with the Canon 7D and 200mm f2.8L lens and the Kenko 1.4 teleconverter. Ergo: 280mm. iso250, 1/1250, f4. If I could get into my time machine I would travel backwards and I would increase the iso and I would stop down, but I would NOT opt for a lower shooting angle, for doing so would be illegal and highly dangerous! Ah: please know that you are looking at approximately 90% of the original capture; I cropped a little off the top and a sliver off the bottom. Please share your thoughts with me, I'll appreciate your time and efforts!
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[Randy Stout]

Jack:

A cute little lady, eye shows well,sharp and well exposed. She looks a bit too brown overall, but of course the lighting makes a lot of difference. The ones I have seen are a bit more gray, except for the brown crest.

I appreciate the shooting angle comment, but when possible, lower is generally more flattering.

Cheers

Randy

[Karen Forderer]

The light is nice on the merganser. The bird is nice and sharp. I love these birds. Where in Toronto did you find this one?

[Jon Rista]

I love the lighting (phase) angle, really helps bring out the detail in her crest and along her wings. Color is generally good, just a bit on the warmer side. It looks like a very early or very late sun was illuminating the subject. It does feel a bit too orange, but it is largely a matter of taste and context. If you really did photograph at sunrise or sunset, then I think the color looks quite accurate!

(I'm curious about your comment regarding the illegality of getting a lower shooting angle? I got a bit of a chuckle out of that, but I'm not sure I really understand the context... Were there extenuating circumstances that had nothing to do with "low-angle photography" itself that might have required you to break a law to get your physical body somewhere where you could actually get a low-angle shot? Or are you saying that low-angle photography is actually outlawed wherever you captured this photo? ;P)

[Jack Breakfast]

Good questions, and most interesting, all! I appreciate Randy's comment "lower is generally more flattering" and agree with him to a certain extent. In THIS instance, lower would have been better, but quite often a somewhat elevated angle can bring out the beauty of the waters which, to me, is often as important as the beauty of the bird! A photograph with two subjects, so to speak. Different strokes here, as always. This shot was taken at sunset, FYI. I think the colors are fairly accurate to 'what was' but can't be 100% sure because my memory of color is skewed always! I like the look of it as-is, that much I can tell you. At least she's not blue. My last hooded m was blue. Naturally she LOOKED blue because she was in the deep shade. But mergansers are not blue. That much is true. Ah, the aesthetics of bird photography! Hooded m's can be found at Humber Bay Park East quite easily, Karen, that's where this fine lady was found and captured. And as for you, Jon, I appreciate your appreciation of my semi-silliness. In between me and the merganser were some slippery and dangerous rocks, almost no footing, no room to lie down or sit down. Also, entering the pond is STRICTLY PROHIBITED BY LAW! Dangerous to the wildlife and so forth. So that's that. I will try for the lower angles when possible, unless of course the water is tremendous, then I try to get ALL the angles. Nice one, Jon, good words, well done!

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image of this gorgeous lady.
Love the pose,colors,great details,lights,water and above all golden touch to her hairdo.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jack Breakfast]

Thank you Satish, your compliments are much appreciated!

[Shawn Zierman]

Sweet sweet image of this hen there Breakfast. I enjoy the shooting angle on this one because of the qualities of the water that you have captured.
There is a nice "flow" and texture to the water that would not show this way with a lower angle...but yes, low angles....they're all the rage you know :)
I enjoy the crop too. It's a great image sir.

[Jack Breakfast]

Thanks Shawn. Thanks again for calling me "Breakfast" and thanks for the low-angle smile.