Common Mergansers (male)-The chase is on!

[gail bisson]

I am spending lots of quality time with my mergies. I no longer have to use my camo sheet and as long as I sit/lie quietly they go about their business as if I am not there.
The ice is melting a bit so I can't shimmy out on the ice as far.
The white in the BG are little snow mounds on the ice.
Used my newly found( beginner) luminosity skills to tone down the whites.Thanks Mike P. Nothing added or cloned.
I did try a crop to lose the third merganser but the IQ starts to suffer if I do that (perfect for IG though!!)
Canon 1DX 600mm and 1.4x
ISO 500 SS 1/2000 F 8.0
Comments always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Looks good, I like the action. I think you use Lightroom so here's a way to control the whites using Lightroom. Hover the cursor over the whites, move it around watching the values shown under the histogram. If you find areas that are high (94-99) that are not clipping boost the whites slider until they begin to clip. Click on the clipping triangle for the whites so that the areas that are clipping will show in red. Using the Adjustment Brush (I normally set it to 100% feather and a flow of 50) select Burn and paint over the areas where clipping is shown. If after painting over those areas clipping is still shown then adjust the highlights to about -10. I then click in the box opposite the white slider, place the cursor over the brightest whites and use the down arrow while watching the values below the histogram to adjust the whites to 94 or 95. All of the clipped areas should disappear. Close the Adjustment Brush and go back into the Develop Module and return the white slider to the value before the whites were boosted to show what was clipped or close to clipping. This also works for blacks using dodge, shadows and black. Anyways, lovely image, thank you for sharing.

[David Roach]

I love it as presented with pano crop. The third bird and all those water droplets a big part of the story. TFS

[annmpacheco]

Fun image Gail, and well done getting the critical action to show so nicely, the open beak and the flounder, wonderful. Nice work on the whites.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Luminosity Masking is really Nice tool, when you figure out how to used.

I reduce the Highlights, I generally use Dodging ( New Layer, Opacity of Layer Multiply/Softlight brush with Black brush). I add masking based on Luminosity masks.

Very nice image. I like the first and the head angle of the rightmost Merganser.

TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Looks like a little flounder. These merg images are still killing me. If the one with the fish had its head turned a bit more toward us this would be a hands down contest winner. Otherwise fantastic.

with love, artie

ps: assuming this was in full sun ISO 500 at 1/2000 at f/8 will almost always get you in WHITE jail. I recommended starting at 1/2500 sec. at f/8 (or the equivalent) at ISO 400 and then adjusting either way ...

[William Dickson]

What a wonderful pano story...Love it Gail. Nice exposure and details.

Will

[John Mack]

These merganser images keep getting better and better what is next? Really like the action on this one and the splashing water.

[gail bisson]

Your comment re: 1/2500 is 100% spot on. I had been at f8 and 1/2500 but just before this action started I was photographing the female (a lot less white) so I changed my SS to 1/2000. As soon as I did, the chase scene started. I immediately realized that I was at 1/2000 and bumped up to 1/2500 but of course the most dynamic images were the first 10-12 that were shot at 1/2000.
I feel lucky that I was able to recover most of the whites. Image was taken at 3:30PM with sunset at 5:10PM.
Gail

Looks like a little flounder. These merg images are still killing me. If the one with the fish had its head turned a bit more toward us this would be a hands down contest winner. Otherwise fantastic.

with love, artie

ps: assuming this was in full sun ISO 500 at 1/2000 at f/8 will almost always get you in WHITE jail. I recommended starting at 1/2500 sec. at f/8 (or the equivalent) at ISO 400 and then adjusting either way ...

[Dorian Anderson]

Wonderful action and low shooting angle. I love the icy feel to this frame Gail. Exposure looks great and you even got both catchlights. Was going to suggest a tighter crop but looks like you've tried that. Still a wonderful shot.

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice shot, I wish you were closer or had used the 2X, I want to see more details on the mergansers, I'd clone out the OOF one left behind doesn't add much IMO

TFS