Female Common Merganser

[gail bisson]

canon 1 DX
1/2000 F 6.3 ISO 800
Saw this little lady coming in from afar and was able to track her into the pond where she landed nearly in front of me.
The BG is ice on the lake and the bottom of the treeline.
Cropped to 70% FF
PP: Usual sliders in LR5, nothing cloned or added, dodge the shadow side of the face slightly, levels and USM to JPEG
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Love the image, Gail. What a great capture! Thank you for sharing.

[keith mitchell]

Gail looks like she's using those feet and tail as air brakes, would like to have seen the head a little lighter, but you know what they say about striving for perfection, smashing flight shot.


Keith.

[Colin Driscoll]

Not sure about this one Gail. I had a go at it in PS and to me it looks better with the dark strip removed (a bit of free transform from below) making it a bit more high key. And there is something strange about the bird's face, it looks distorted, maybe the effort of coming in to land. Lighting is superb though.

[Bill Dix]

A great landing shot, even if it's not the most graceful of poses. Lovely light and nice exposure.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice incoming flight image, Gail but I would loose the tree line if it were mine.

[arash_hazeghi]

great landing frame, sharp with good details and a nice BG. In particular I like stretched web'ed feet and the fanned tail. The colors could be more lively, it looks a bit muted on my screen.

The head does look a bit funny to me as well. did you have to sharpen it? I wish it was more parallel with the back of the camera

TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, gotta love the expression on the face as if she's about to hit something infront of her. You couldnt have captured a better incoming pose, full wingspread, fanned tail and splayed legs. Overall, tack sharp, well exposed, and I really light the pastel blue of the water. Well captured.

[Marina Scarr]

What a killer and comical pose you captured here, Gail. I think the colors look great and the whites are perfect. While I am not a huge fan on the dark upper BG, I do feel as though you worked it in such a way that it nicely frames your duck.

[Grace Scalzo]

This is how they look when they come right at you, but I do wish that the bill was more distinguishable...the head confuses my eye a bit. The sharpenss, exposure, and awkwardness of the landing pose are all perfectly captured.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very well caught I would most definitely brighten up the head, I think it makes a big difference.

[Arthur Morris]

Superb light, pose, and tail position. A bit of NIK CEP on the head would like improve it: start with 50% Tonal Contrast and 50% Detail Extractor. Save as a Recipe and then Apply it. I usually reduce the opacity by about half.
As for the dark strip, I think that it would work better with a crop off the bottom. Else, I would lose it. a

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the incoming pose, fanned tail, exposure and details on the feet is excellent. Nice image Gail.