Hooded Merganser Courting ritual

Not only being so close to these Mergansers this past Saturday, we were lucky to capture many images of their courting behavior. Many circling patterns around the female and head arched back displays. In this image all the males have their beaks open, and some if not all are make a gurgling sound varied in volume. Also there were two more Hoodies in this frame, but decided since they were soft, I could crop closer to these four. C&C welcome.


D700, Nikon 500mm + 1.4 tc, 1/1250, f 8.0, ISO 400, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley Gimbal head.


Geoffrey

Nice getting a group photo and all sharp.
It tells a nice story, i might darken the water a bit....

Always interesting seeing behavior captured and all four birds in sharp focus, f/8 just got them....nice.

I love the unusual sound these guys make. Pretty good behaviour you got here. Tough light that seemed to be on the harsh side of things, but the exposure dealt with nicely (did you need to lift the shadows in post?). With the bills pointing up I'd trade a bit less canvas below for more above. Bummer the trailing hoodie was angling away...perhaps he had his eye on another distant female!:S3:

This definitely captures the spirit of the chase. It was amazing to watch (and hear) the hoodies as they went through their repertoire of display poses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux

I love the unusual sound these guys make. Pretty good behaviour you got here. Tough light that seemed to be on the harsh side of things, but the exposure dealt with nicely (did you need to lift the shadows in post?). With the bills pointing up I'd trade a bit less canvas below for more above. Bummer the trailing hoodie was angling away...perhaps he had his eye on another distant female!:S3:

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Thanks Daniel. Yes I did used S/H slightly. The light being somewhat harsh helped mitigate the blocking up of detail in the blacks.

Geoffrey

Thanks Everyone.



Geoffrey