Common Goldeneye...a bit of salad.

This gorgeous drake cared about three things it seemed. Where were the hens? (who accompanied him the entire time I watched them.) Where was the food? Which he dove for several times and on this occasion, still had a bit of dinner on his bill. And of course where was I? But for the most part he really did not care about the last part. This was the tamest male goldeneye that I've encountered to date. No blind was used. Just laying flat on a sheet of ice in hip waders, timing any need for readjustments to be made during his periodic 13 second dives. Canon7d, Sigm50/500, iso400, 1/800, crop, USM. Comments and critiques welcome.
Regards,
Shawn Zierman

excellent low angle and eye contact, sharp. some of the blacks are blocked and maybe you can recover more details from the whites too.

TFS

Thanks Arash. I went back to the RAW and tried to tame the whites and brighten the blacks a bit on the duck...contrasty little bugger in this light quality... :)

We had a similar situation in Ottawa this past winter where a drake goldeneye was the tamest ever and allowed close approach while feeding (or rather, approached closely when one laid low on the ice). They usually flee from a hundred yards away or more:S3:

The repost is indeed an improvement on this high dynamic range fella. Nice sheen to the head feathers, and the low angle works well as is usually the case. Nice blues in the water, and the item hanging from the bill adds some interest.

When I looked at the OP my first thought was- great low POV and I like the size of the duck in the frame very much.
I also felt the blacks could be opened up and I see that your repost has addressed this issue.
I like the seaweed wrapped around the bill.And the frops on the back are always a plus!
Very nice image,
Gail

Nice one Shawn, all the colours blend perfectly Lovely image Well done

Love these guy's. Such a great looking duck and one I have yet to capture. We don't get them to often out here in the Pacific flyway. The shot looks great and I like the low POV you achieved.
The first frame looks a bit hot on my monitor so the repost handled that well and the darks in the head look better too. The weed on the bill looks cool and that piercing yellow eye is really captivating.
Nice work Shawn.

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact.

What an outrageously good looking duck! Love the low angle and the eye contact. Great iridescence captured on the head and I for one am enjoying the super white whites in the repost.