Merganser on ice

Hello, this shot was taken a few weeks ago. I did not bring the flash becasue I was out to practice BIF. During waiting for some of the locals to take to the air this Hooded Merganser decided to jump up on the ice. It seems to never fail that when I see him do this he is either in the shade or it is cloudy out. In a way that is a blessing because these guys are a nightmare to expose for. I decided to try and get what I could out of this shot. I ran it through Nik Color Efex to try to enhance what was possible, or maybe there is more possible? Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

7D, f/4, iso:400, 1/1000, 500mm HH.

Gary.

Wonderful bird you got here, i like the details that you have on the image
Its nice to see it stand on the ice, the ice makes it stand out of the surrounding
The yellow eye is vey impressive

Gary:

You aren't complaining about our lovely Michigan weather are you?:bg3:

Very nice pose, with erect crest, feet display well, slight angle towards us.

I think the processing looks pretty natural, which is good, as it it easy to overdo the Color Efex sometimes.

Good comp

Cheers

Randy

One fine job on exposure here. Good detail all around. Nice pose and comp. Well done.:cheers:

Nice exposure, I think a bit more saturation would look good, maybe the ones
in my area are brighter, but the tan/orange color seems a bit flat.

I think you did well exposing the bird with the bright bg. I really like how the back feathers overlap and curve. i wonder if you could bring up the darks just a little on the face and neck area?

Well exposed fro the whites, tha darks are a little too dark. The pose is excellent and I like to see one out on the ice, Gary.

Thanks all for your comments and critiques. Here is a version with a tad more saturation and a tad brighter in the darks. I think I will stick to subjects in better sunlight.:w3 Gary.

Re-post looks good. Nice low shooting angle. I think you pulled this one off nicely!