A Day at the Zoo with Artie

[Doug Brown]

Last week I spent an afternoon at the Rio Grande Zoo photographing with Artie and a group of his IPT participants. As usual, the Hooded Merganser (a wild bird) drew a lot of attention. Unfortunately, he tended to stay in the shadows. I managed only 2 frames with the bird in good light, and this was the best of the two. Blacks are a little blocked, but I don't think the image is negatively impacted. There has been some discussion on the forum lately about settings to properly expose whites. While it's heavily dependent on the BG when shooting in priority modes, this was done with no EC at all.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/BPN/20091124-MG3011-Hooded/724186260_vgt5w-O-3.jpg

Canon 7D, 400mm, f/6.3, 1/400, ISO 640, hand held

[Jay Gould]

Hey Doc, with a head that big, what would be your diagnosis?;) :D

I think it is a lovely image; thanks for sharing it with us.

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

Very nice image, with great hood display. Nice choice on the exposure. I often have to shoot with sig. - EV to hold the whites, even in relatively soft light. (Nikon of course meters differently)

I keep working a wild hooded merganser locally. I see him almost every time I go looking, but he too loves to stay in tight to bushes and in the shade. The sun is so low now that there rarely is much sun at all reaching him, so a challenge.

Cheers

Randy

[Harshad Barve]

wonderful image Doug , lovely control over techs and nice details
TFS

[James Salywoda]

Beautiful shot of this male Merganser Doug your timing on this shot was perfect the IQ is stunning. I hope I find this species again out here.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great detailed image! Love that BG and the surface tension of the water at the tail.

[Jim Fenton]

Lovely, crazy water background pattern Doug :)

I think the shadows could have been opened just a bit more but it's fine the way it is.

This is one of the better 7D images I've seen to date as far as detail goes.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Doug, the detail in the blacks look good to me, and overall nice and sharp. Interesting texture from the water.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the BG in this photo, it has waves and texture but no too distracting. Techs are good too. Was this the DO?

[john jackson]

Delightful background that adds to rather than distracts from the subject. It even displays the surface tension around the tail.

[Mike Veltri]

One very hard bird to expose for Doug, a lower angle would have been nice but may not have been possible. Even when you get the crown exposed correctly, some times the chest is blown I guess due to the water on the feathers. You did well here, and I myself like shooting these guys on overcast days best.

[Doug Brown]

No Arash. This was my 400 f/5.6. I didn't use the DO bare, only with the 1.4x.