Eider

[William Dickson]

Canon 5D Mk3
f/4 500mm with 1.4
f/5.6
1/2000
ISO 800

The eiders are now starting to move inshore for winter. I captured this one last week.

Will

[Ross Taylor]

Hi Will. What a great bird :) Such wavy water is great! I think the shot could benefit from a bit more contrast. Although I like the wave in the foreground, I would be tempted to see if cropping a wee bit off the bottom and adding some to the top would work.

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful sight, Will! Ross

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that Ross. These birds are close by, so, I probably photograph them more than any other bird. I remember my first eider image on here, had no detail at all on the blacks :e3. And got a great deal of criticism, and I learned big style from that. I still find it difficult to get the exposure 'spot on' with these birds, because of the the black/white clash and the weather conditions here. So, you will be correct about more contrast, but I prob wanted to show more black detail, and eased off on the contrast because of my eagerness to show the blacks. Some time ago, someone, cant remember who, said 'if you get a good eye,you know your exposure is good' That inspired me :S3:

Will

[Ross Taylor]

I see what you mean Will. Makes complete sense. I suppose mist/fog makes matters much more challenging too. If I look at just the bird, contrast seems pretty good. We do see details in both the white and dark areas. Perhaps it is the contrast of the background that gave me the impression? And of course the BG contrast is not all that important ;)

Cheers-Ross

[Karl Egressy]

It is called Common Eider here but it is very uncommon unfortunately.
Excellent image, love the beautiful breeding colors and the head turn, Will.

[David Salem]

Nice look at this beautiful duck. Wish to see one some day. Well done

[christopher galeski]

Nice one Will,like the POV,and I can see lots of detail in some of the light colors and blacks.TFS.

[gail bisson]

Terrific POV and good exposure. I might take a bit off the bottom,
Gail

[adrian dancy]

A stunning bird and very nicely imaged William.

[Grace Scalzo]

I wish that the out of focus foreground wave was not in front of the lower part of the duck's body. I like a low shooting angle but am finding that getting just a few inches higher when photographing ducks helps. (if this is a concern of yours...maybe it's just me!)

[William Dickson]

Thanks a lot for the comments. Hi Grace, I have a few from a higher angle, and understand what you mean, but I have found that with eider duck, it is IMO better low POV

Will

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful duck in nice light. Exposure looks good, and you got some good fine detail on the breast. That FG wave, although pretty neat and mirroring the duck's curves, seems to take up lots of real estate down there and for that reason I agree trimming a bit off below would work.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the exposure control, details, HA and composition wise I would take a little off the bottom. Very well done Will!