Hooded Merganser doing wingflap

[joel quenneville]

This image was created towards the end of the afternoon after watching this fellow in the distance for about an hour. I was on my stomach in the snow to get a low angle some nearby mallards. I found that if I kept still, they would ignore me while I photographed them. Finally, my patiance paid off and the merganser came closer. Just as I was focusing on him, he rose and flapped his wings.


1/500s
f/7.1
ISO 800
+1 EV compensation
Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 with 2x converter @600mm
Nikon D70s

[Jim Poor]

It is tough to get close these critters. Great patience to wait for him.

I find the white breast to be blown out and the light swath in the BG to make the thing washed it out. A fuller wing and a turn toward you would be great, but you can't control those things.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Hi Joel it is great timing to catch him flapping his wings but my wish would be for a larger image as this is quite small and difficult to really see him well. There are very elusive so you did well to catch this one. Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Whitehead]

Great timing on a challenging bird. Background and foreground colours complement the bird colours nicely. Looks a bit soft to me - from the reflections it looks as thought the plane of focus may be just in front of the bird

[Kirsten Frost]

Nice image of a very odd looking bird, well timed to capture the wing flap. Bird does look a little small in frame, a little closer and it would really enhance the impact. The +1 exposure comp probably caused the slightly blown whites here.