A young family of Hooded Mergansers has delighted many this year at a local park. There were 14 hatchlings at first (I missed those...too busy at that time), and they eventually dwindlwed down to 6 survivors. This is two of them sharing a favorite perch. Taken just as the sun was starting to peek over the trees. I knew the light angle would be wrong so early in the morning from the side of the pond, but there was access to position myself for silhouettes, so I concentrated on this technique first. The trick for success here with two subjects was to wait for two good head angles for good profiles...and I really wanted the two to face each other. It took a while, but patience paid off!
Canon 7D + 100-400L @400mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1600s., f/8, ISO 800, handheld, oh and no eye doctoring here!!
Indeed - beautiful. The position of the 2 heads, i.e. the birds appear to be having a relaxing intimate moment, is great, as are the silhouette and the sky color. I also like that you can see the sky through the nostrils. Maybe remove the feather sticking out from the right hand bird?
Wonderful, Daniel, such a lovely atmospheric image, with a nice sense of interaction, and great comp and sharpness. My favorite part is the light coming through the nares.
Great shot, Daniel. loved the head positions, the color, the dark band at the top...the size in the frame...would not even think of touching a thing. You positioned yourself perfectly...awesome work.