Chillin…..

[dankearl]

While I probably have more Bufflehead photos than anyone in the world, I have wanted
this pose for a long time. It is a preening pose but they roll very quickly, preen and roll back.
I took this yesterday, this one floated for a split second, taking in the Sun, before rolling upright.

1/6400, f6.3, iso800, 600mm (300 w/ 2x), D800, HH

002_3110bp2.jpg (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137165&stc=1&d=1390806289)

[Bret Goddard]

Bravo, those guys are very hard to expose like this, very well done!

[John Robinson]

Good pose and georgeous head colours Bret. The bright reflction draws my eye a bit but still an eye grabbing image in all ! Nice backdrop too.
John

[Bill Dix]

Great pose and stunning range of colors. Well captured.

[Doug Brown]

Perfect light angle to highlight the great colors in the bird. Nice pose and eye contact too? Were you going for flight shots?

[dankearl]

Doug,
I always have SS high as I can at the Duck pond as you never know, and high SS never hurts a still shot as far as I know.
I never have ISO less than 800, so if it is sunny, I am shooting fast…..
You also would not really get this shot either, their preening is a really quick messy looking roll with a lot of kicking etc.
Thanks for the comments.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, excellent exposure, and just love those colours on the head. This pose shows off your explaination of rolling over, so very well timed. I do like the colour of the water too.

[adrian dancy]

Excellent work here with exposure, detail and colour. I'd tone down the bright water behind the bird. Your selection to reduce noise/blur (?) is apparent around the bird, especially around the tail, the water between the bird's forehead and flank and the water RHS of the bird's lower neck reveals a strong change in texture brought about your selection.

[dankearl]

Adrian,
I Completely agree.
I did not do any NR to the original (this is not a big crop) and at the last minute after I downsized to post,
I decided to do some and it was quick and sloppy.
Thanks for pointing it out.

[Joe Murphy]

Lovely pose, exposure & detail are great.

[keith mitchell]

All I see is those head colours and sheen they really look good, the rest as been pretty well covered ,wish it was mine.

[John Robinson]

Sorry I got your name wrong before !!
It must be my eyes, because I cannot see any texture change around the areas suggested on the posted pic.
I can if I download the pic and blow it up a lot though.
John

[Terry Johnson]

Dan, great shot. Where was it taken and where were you in relation to the bird?

Thanks...Terry Johnson

[dankearl]

Terry, taken at Crystal springs, I was laying on the bank.
The Bufflehead is probably 30 feet away.
You can't get in the water there, but shore access is good. Light is very tricky with all the shade and bad sun angles.
The Ducks are tame from all the kids feeding them.
They are cracking down on the feeding though, giving warnings to the families feeding the ducks.

[David Salem]

Really like this one Dan. The roll over pose is great and the exposure is killer. You managed to get allot of beautiful green iridescent in the head and a nice catch in the eye. Very nice!

[douglas hayes]

Nice job with the white details-did you under expose or treat them in PP?

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent preening pose. The colors in the head came out very nice. Great work Dan.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Killer image, Dan. Perfect pose, exposure and comp. Details are great. Such a low percentage shot, but you've nailed it.