King Eider

[Steen Torner]

This King Eider was taken in Baatsfjord, Norway.

I used my Canon EOS 5D Mark III with a Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM and the 1.4x III (420 mm).

The photo was captured handheld from a hide using 1/800 sec at f/5.0 and ISO 800. It is cropped to 60% only to remove water.

Appreciate your comments.

Regards Steen :S3:

[Randy Stout]

Steen:

Spectacular bird. Good shooting angle, nice bow wake. Vivid colors on the head. A little tight in the frame for my taste, and the large mass of dark feathers tends to overpower him a bit because of the birds angle, with the body closer than the head.

Cheers

Randy

[WillieHall]

I like the tight crop, in this case, it really sets off the remarkable details of facial feathers and the great bow wake. Not much you can do about the black body in the foreground, but since it is not the focal point and is a slightly OOF it does not distract too much, to me. A real beauty!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Although this is a striking bird, to me the best part of the image is the bow wake...very cool! I could see a version with more room above and left.

[Steen Torner]

Thanks for all your comments - much appreciated.

I always crop tight as I like to show details in bird portraits. However, I will try to be less aggressive in the future :w3

There is plenty of space above and left so I have enclosed a version with more room.

Regards Steen :S3:

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Steen,

:You must have been real close for this portrait! I'd say a crop between the Original post and the last one you posted (I assume that to be the original?) would be ideal. I think the detail would still show even if not cropped so tightly. Well done!

Miguel

[gail bisson]

Great close-up and low angle.
Love the feather detail in the head. Nice bow wave and nice color in the bow wave.
If mine, I would crop from the left to minimize the visual weight of the black body,
Gail