Hooded Merganser-Lophodytes cucullatus

Went out today to scout some good locations for Ducks again for one of my workshops and came across a pair of these (to me, very rare..) Hooded Mergansers-Lophodytes cucullatus. These are not native to our country so most likely an escape but having seen many wonderfu images of these gorgeous birds on this website i was very glad to see them out in the wild doing well.

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Canon Eos 1D Mark IV
Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: F 7.1
Exposure mode: M
Exposure compensation: - 2/3
Flash:no
Flash exposure compensation:
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: AI Focus
ISO: 400
Lens: Canon 600mm F4
Focal length:780 mm
AF mode: Auto Focus
On Beanbag from water's edge
Levels/Curves/USM/Contrast/Saturation/Noise Ninja/Home stewed Sharpening-mix/ Adobe Photoshop CS5

WOW Jeroen,
I think this is my favorite of yours to date. Love, love the dark BG and IQ. It would have been nice if he was more angled towards you but this is a very minor nit.The exposure is perfect and shows the feather details perfectly. Well done,
Gail

Very well done! Lucky that you got it so sharp with such a slow shutter speed. Congrats! Real nice!

Very nice Jeron. one of the hardest birds to expose. you've done a splendid job...nice details in blacks and whites. loved the dark BG, calm water and the low angle. if mine, I'd crop some from bottom and add some at the top. I think there is too much space below the reflection.

Excellent angle, light, and nice exposure.
The whites seem right on the edge, but are fine.
They are difficult to get right, nice job.

Beautiful! Gail stole the words right out of my mouth (including the angling away bit). Very well done.

Love it. great bg reflection and love that wake

Lucky you! very handsome duck and mood.

These are really skittish and hard to expose and you did great in both departments as it looks relaxed and good details in black and white..

The dark background really makes the hood and the eye pop - outstanding! I also love how smooth the water is around the bird.

Beautiful!
I like the balance of the texture in the wake around the bird while the surrounding water is softened away.
I do find the little white specs, of water I suppose, on the face and bill distracting.

Great image Jeroen! I like the calm water, bow wake, sharpness and composition.

Wonderful image. I love the background as it really makes the duck pop. Exposed very well and very nice detail.
Well done.

very nice pose and details, you did a great job with the flash, I tried something like this a while ago but cooked the crown with too much flash power!

very nice image ,love the color of the water,nice exposure,sharp.welldone.

What a spectacular image of this duck... Your exposure is perfect and I like the way it glides through the water... Nice One !!

A wondefull image. A killer BG. Very good IQ . Very vell done .

dramatic lighting, superb details through out and perfect exposure. terrific image!

Thanks guys for all your positive comments!

greetings,

Jeroen Stel