The Look of Love

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I love the expression on these two. Looking forward to seeing these this fall/winter. This is from last December at a local pond
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D 300mm 2.8 L w2x
Author Cheryl Molennor
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/1000
Av( Aperture Value ) 7.1
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering

C&C appreciated thankyou

[Randy Stout]

Cheryl:

The interaction is really cute. Like his bill shadow on her breast. Good to see his tail up, often flat on the water.

Because the BG has quite a bit of debris in the water, if your IQ will tolerate it, I would crop in significantly tighter, esp. from above to eliminate as much of that as possible. The action is all contained between the two birds, so tighter crop would work for me.

Whites on his crest look a bit warm, but these guys are a real challenge in that regard unless the light is really soft.

I was trying to shoot a male hooded this AM, and he was not cooperating. :bg3:

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Wow, the poses a priceless. I wish I could read their body language.
Regardless, the interaction tells the story and it is an excellent capture, Cheryl.

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Cheryl! I like the interaction and raised tails.

[Derek Willcox]

Cheryl what a great image nice and sharp love the look on both the only nit and its not cc its the no name on the birds not being from the states i dont know what kind they are

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

[QUOTE=Randy Stout;744173]Cheryl:

The interaction is really cute. Like his bill shadow on her breast. Good to see his tail up, often flat on the water.

Because the BG has quite a bit of debris in the water, if your IQ will tolerate it, I would crop in significantly tighter, esp. from above to eliminate as much of that as possible. The action is all contained between the two birds, so tighter crop would work for me.

Whites on his crest look a bit warm, but these guys are a real challenge in that regard unless the light is really soft.

I was trying to shoot a male hooded this AM, and he was not cooperating. :bg3:

Cheers

Randy[/
Thanks Randy. Funny I am very fond of tight intimate crops and when I first worked this one I cropped it tight. When I looked at it today I thought hmm feels a little tight so... I opened it up Here it is tighter.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Cheryl what a great image nice and sharp love the look on both the only nit and its not cc its the no name on the birds not being from the states i dont know what kind they are

Hi Derek these are Hooded Mergansers. Thanks all for the comments

[Randy Stout]

Cheryl:

I think the repost works much better. Gives a lot more impact to them and lessens the effect of the water.

Cheers

Randy

[Brendan Dozier]

Great expressions and interaction capture, Cheryl, repost looks good!

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp and a nice moment. The WHITEs especially on his crest look detail-less. A Linear Burn or Details Extractor in NIK's Color Efex Pro 4.1 (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2011/11/12/image-optimization-magic-part-ii/) would likely help. The stuff in the water is less than ideal. Perfect head angle for the drake; she looks as if he is looking at his butt....

[Ofer Levy]

Sweet behaviour and interaction shot! Agree about the whites and it would have been even better with a lower shooting angle.

[dankearl]

Very nice interaction photo, Cheryl, it looks like just a bit rotation needed to me.
Wonderful moment captured.

[arash_hazeghi]

very cute, I'd go with the tighter crop

[gail bisson]

I am going against the grain here and vote for a crop in between the two you posted. The interaction is great. A lovely moment captured and I really like the shadow of the male's bill against female's breast. A keeper for sure,
Gail

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions yes I believe I like it tighter crop better myself I agree about the whites I did try a recovery and burn but seem to get nowhere. Ofer I agree I wish I had a lower angle but this was a little pond on the side of the road I had to sit real close to my car on the top of the hill so I wouldn't spook them and got as low as I possibly could

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Cheryl, the pose and look of the female puts this over the top. It looks like these guys are an exposure nightmare with regards to darks and whites. Your repost does work better.

[James Salywoda]

Excellent composition Cheryl as I like the look this female is giving her partner... one of my favorite species of ducks well done.