Bufflehead Running on Water.

This guy took off by surprise, but I was able to track it and take a few images of it speeding along the water. It never really took off to the air, but rather settled right back in...closer to a female it was eyeing.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 14.TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/800s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, slight image rotation and then cropped for composition, darkened some brighter elements along the BG shoreline (burn and clone tools). NR to BG (may go back and do some to the blurred wings)

Awesome image Dan, it's sharp where it needs to be!

Stunning shot, and not easy to get more than a frame or two when prone.

nice action shot,some nice detail,good low angle,did it knock you over:S3:TFS.

Wow you nailed this one! So tough to lock on the focus when they are coming at you. Very nicely done!

My kind of shot.

I might be inclined to tone down / blend the brown patch in the background on the right.

This is one killer image, Daniel. Glad you were ready for it. Love the symmetry of the wings, the lovely water and BG and the amazing action. Love how the duck is out of the water and coming right at you. You must have been thrilled to witness and capture this image!!!

Great shot Daniel. Had the exact same thing happen to me a while back. Didnt get as good of a running shot, not easy to lock on, but my buffie flew past and I got some flight shots. This is the shot I wanted. Nice that you got light in both eyes. Well done.

I like the low angle, sharpness, action and BG. Nice image Daniel.

Awesome Daniel! I would have had the adrenaline pumping after capturing such an amazing shot! You were on the ball with this one. Head nice and sharp, good exposure, nice low perspective with clean Bg, and peak action! The water droplets and water texture at the feet bring a lot to the image. What more could you ask for?!

Perfect timing, they are easier to get coming at you than moving side to side.
Love the sense of movement.

awesome photo! fantastic details

I am not saying anything i am still looking :S3:

Terrific image, Daniel. Great reflexes to get ahold of this guy!

Spectacular!! I agree with all said above about the details.

Daniel:

Pretty spectacular image all the way around. The shooting angle and wing position make it for me.

Congrats on a difficult to achieve shot!

Cheers

Randy

High degree of difficulty here...very impressive.
Most impressive to me is the sharpness at 1/800!

Great shot.

There's really nothing about this that I don't like! Might be more striking if wings and water droplets were sharp but the blurred wings puts more emphasis on the face. I have a similar shot but it a goldeneyes butt as he runs away from me. How did you get him to run toward you?

Jim

Daniel Sir:
This is absolutely Spectacular !!!

Regards,
Satish.

Awesome Daniel. Great action and low angle. Super sharp where needed.

Hi Daniel, Starting from the angle the picture has been taken this is perfect. I would dream of taking something similar. Great shot !

Hiran

Well executed Daniel.

Btw, a bit late but congrats on your new lens.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jim Thomas

There's really nothing about this that I don't like! Might be more striking if wings and water droplets were sharp but the blurred wings puts more emphasis on the face. I have a similar shot but it a goldeneyes butt as he runs away from me. How did you get him to run toward you?

Jim

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Hey guys, thanks all!! Jim, there were two females closer to shore where I was and this fella came running towards them...luckily I was already focused on it. The sprint did not last long, maybe a second or two...10 yards forward at most.