Common Merganser drake in flight no. 2

[Bill Dix]

Had another go at these bullets last night. I wasn't in a position where I could see them coming from a long way off, so usually they were past me before I even got a shot off. But I did get a few without clipping heads, tails or wings; and this time without resorting to a huge crop. Next goal is one coming a bit more toward me, wings-down position. C&C always appreciated.

D90 | 500f4 + 1.4x | ISO 640 | 1/3200s @ f/6.3 | manual exposure (after checking histograms on slower gulls)

[George Cottay]

That's one fine shot!

Might it be improved by cropping to put the duck a bit lower in the frame?

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

You are def. gaining on them!
Sharp, well exposed, nice full up pose, nice colors.

Keep working them.

If you have another person available, sometimes it helps to have a spotter calling out the birds as they come in, while you are busy working with the camera.

Cheers

Randy

[James Salywoda]

Awesome!!! This is an excellent flight shot of this species Bill well done I wish it was mine.

[Greg Basco]

Bill, you already mentioned the angle of movement, but great job on the exposure and the sharpness. Sounds like these are fast fliers so I'm sure you're quite happy with this one.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Excellent sharpness for fast flier. loved the colors. Well done, Bill.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all; I appreciate the comments.

George, I want to keep some space beneath the bird, but I could imagine cropping a slivver off the bottom.

Randy, often my wife joins me and helps spot the birds. It is a valuable assist, but she wasn't there this time. There was one other photographer who was watching for the mergs in one direction, while I was watching the two bald eagles who were watching us from a tree across the lake. Unfortunately they didn't choose to fly over until it got dark.