Star of the Duck Pond

[Arthur Morris]

Presumably, this is the same free and wild (heck, it flies) drake Hooded Merganser is the same bird that has been hanging out in the duck pond at the Albuquerque Zoo. None-the-less, it is not an easy bird to photograph. It is of course and exposure nightmare on its own, but swims in and out from shade to bright sun constantly and rarely gives up a good head angle....

Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800. Av Mode at zero was my best guess :): 1/100 sec. at f/8. The bird must have stopped moving for 1/10 second... Fill flash with Better Beamer at -2 stops.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Christopher Marek]

definitely an exposure nightmare. I See plenty of detail in the eye, the serrated bill and the body plumage. Too bad detail can't be captured in the white portions?

[Layton E Parham]

Canon 800mm dream image.

[Arthur Morris]

definitely an exposure nightmare. I See plenty of detail in the eye, the serrated bill and the body plumage. Too bad detail can't be captured in the white portions?

Yes, too bad. The whites are nowhere near over-exposed--most are in the 240s. There is just not much detail there.

[Troy Lim]

Very nice shot. How heavy of a crop is it with 800mm plus 1.4TC? I will be there tomorrow meeting up with Doug, hopefully I will have enough reach. :)

[Arthur Morris]

Very nice shot. How heavy of a crop is it with 800mm plus 1.4TC? I will be there tomorrow meeting up with Doug, hopefully I will have enough reach. :)

No crop. The 800 alone is often too much lens there so you will be fine.

[Troy Lim]

No crop. The 800 alone is often too much lens there so you will be fine.

Thank you.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Hi,
Nice capture with plenty of details in blacks. Also I like nice soft light & lovely water color.

[Chris Martinez]

I think the eye contact is what does it for me. It's peering right into my soul. Those two little water droplets bug me.... I'd like a few more:p

[Arthur Morris]

I think the eye contact is what does it for me. It's peering right into my soul. Those two little water droplets bug me.... I'd like a few more:p

There actually were a few more...

[Doug Brown]

I always enjoy watching your pursuit of this fantastic little bird Artie! He can be a real challenge for all the reasons you pointed out. I didn't realize you were using the 800 with a 1.4x; very sharp for 1/100 at 1100mm. I like the eye contact.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Doug. It's actually 1120. And then 1120 times 1.3 :)

Sharpness a result of luck, good sharpness techiques, the great 4-stop IS, and yes, the tripod :) (Sorry about that last one....)

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Arthur. Great exposure indeed for a really tough subject. And I agree with Doug that sharpness is great for this combo plus pretty low light. Flash works looks good too.

I'll be impressed with Doug's handholding skills when he can do it with the 800 and stacked TCs on a 7D:)

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, loved the BG here. broken reflection is very nice too. These birds are so skittish here...

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Fun fellow, and they are always a challenge, constant motion.

My experience with their whites is that they show more detail if you can get just a bit of side lighting on them.There def. is texture there, but it is so fine, that frontal lighting, and in particular flash, seems to wash that detail out completely.

Our local hoodie hangs out in a darkly shaded area most of the time, so often have to resort to flash, but then you lose the texture in the whites.

Just part of the fun they provide us with!

Randy

[Patrick Sparkman]

Love the soft lighting, and pinkish background, and the raised crest. This is one of my nemesis birds! I can not seem to get one good photo of this bird. Perhaps I should go to Albuquerque!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all. Patrick, it looks like it back in the car for you. This bird swims around with its crest raised most of the time. I got some great stuff on it last year too. It had not been at the zoo for two weeks, showed up the afternoon that I did, and then was not seen again for two weeks. You gotta love it :)

BTW, did you get my request for a wide image of the folks at the Willow/Coyote Wndow on the morning of the Blurry Day Workshop? (Did we even do there that morning? I somehow remember that you were there and had hoped that Robin had the image I am looking for...)

[Patrick Sparkman]

Someday maybe!!

Sorry, I did not take any "wide" shots at the Willow/Coyote opening, and surprisingly neither did Robin.

[Arthur Morris]

I am shocked that Robin did not have what I was looking for :2eyes2:

[Stu Bowie]

Exceptional sharpness for such a slow ss Artie. Good job on the overall exposure too. Interesting crop, and it works for me.