Hooded Merganser on Tour

[Bill Sharkey]

Back for a return visit this year is a male hooded merganser. Whites are on the verge of being blown while blacks came through nicely.

Shot with Canon MII, 500 f4, at f7.1, 800, ISO 800, hand held.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/3029221253_19ce0bea4b_o.jpg

Thanks for looking :)

[Glenn Bartley]

Great low angle and exposure. Its a bit tight for me as in this pic im pretty sure the "virtual tail" is cut off.

[Linda Robbins]

Lovely pose, low perspective and pretty water. A little tight in the frame, especially in front. Nice capture!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great angle, details and BG, as mentioned, just a bit tight in the frame.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Agree with above comments. Beautiful capture Bill of one of my favorite ducks with excellent exposure, color and detail. Thanks for sharing.

[Dominic Cantin]

WOW :eek: These birds are so hard to approach ! Congrats for this detailed picture !

Dom :)

[Fabs Forns]

Good looking specimen, well captured. I'd extend the canvas in front of him.

[Stu Bowie]

What an amazing looking duck. Great to see other species, and I like the low angle in this too. A bit more space in front would take this over the top. Still a great image Bill.

[Nagesh Mula]

Great shot with nice low angle perspective. I'm a big fan of low angle.

[Arthur Morris]

Tight but superb. Love the bow wave. Eye superbly sharp. Did you try a Linear Burn on the whites?

[Bill Sharkey]

No linear burn, but I did copy and multiple the new layer of whites (resulting in only a subtle change).

On the tail, - like the bufflehead duck, the hooded merganser fans and lowers his tail to stabilize himself in the water, shortening it's length behind the bird.

Thanks everyone ... Bill

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Bill, Here is the problem. There are more than a few burned white pixels. Go back to the RAW and reconvert it darker. If you need help doing that, let me know what you are using to convert your RAWs and I will try to help... You cannot multiply or Linear burn stuff that is not there to start with.

[Raymond Barlow]

It is not easy to get a low angle on this bird, in such good light, well done Bill!

[Tony Whitehead]

Great job Bill, love the angle. I don't mind the tight crop. Love the eye and feather patterns. Difficult bird with the blacks and whites.

[Bill Sharkey]

Thanks everyone, I'll try to fix it up upon re-import through raw ... thanks Artie!

Bill