Goosander

[Rich Steel]

Hi

A new species for me. Difficult to approach and a tough exposure. Taken yesterday on a large upland lake in North Wales. The dark water was created by the reflection of the hills on the far side of the lake. I intend to return again to these beautiful birds!!

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k217/squidfish_2006/goosander102009.jpg

Taken with 1D mk3 and 500mm lens at ISO 400 F5.6 -0.67EV at 1/500s

Cheers

Rich

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Love the pose in this one Rich and the low angle. The exposure is excellent and I like the detail you were able to capture around the neck area. Beautiful lighting and very nice eye contact although a slight more head turn would have been nice but really love this species and congratulations.

[Tony Whitehead]

This is lovely, Rich. I really like the dark BG and water and agree this is a difficult exposure situation. I think a bit more detail on the dark head is extractable (localised curves adjustment masked to head) and have tried a crop from below to lower the bird in the image. I like the water drops but feel the one big one is a bit eye-catching. Judy has mentioned the head angle. Well done.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose and details and I like Tony's repost because of the details in the shadows and composition.

[Tony House]

Like the repost too, more detail and green showing on the head, comp and pose look nice too.
Good luck on your next visit....

Nice work.
Tony

[Steve Maxson]

I like what Tony did to the bird's head. This is a terrific image, Rich. The bird is sharp and the pose is very interesting (personally, I don't see any need for a head turn here), the subtle detail in the whites is superb, and I love the background.

[Rich Steel]

Thanks for the replies and comments. Tony thank you for taking the time to do the repost. You did a great job bringing out the detail in those head feathers. I couldn't decide whether to take out the large water drop and decided to leave it in the end.

Cheers

Rich

[Arthur Morris]

For the head, I would go for something in between the ORIG and the repost as there is something magical about a darker head. The image is superb. Had you been ten yards to the left you would have had a contest winner; as is the bird is angled slightly away from you. Get out and get some more on this species! I do like the elimination of the largest drop of water.