I don't often get a very good look at this duck, hard to get close to and very hard to expose correctly (harder than Buffleheads for me).
I had a very nice opportunity this afternoon with a pair, about as close a look as I have ever had with a Male.
The Whites still look a bit hot, they were not blinking and this was in cloudy conditions.
I took about 50 shots to even get close to exposing right!
Great that you got close to this guy, I understand about the whites even when cloudy but this is a great shot - preening and not even caring that you are there. A few years back there was a couple at Chrystal Springs that were close and eating the duck food - other than that I have never been close to males.
Beautiful pose, Dan, and a tricky exposure. The whites look ok to me, although blacks seem a bit blocked. I'm guessing you should be able to open up the shadows and tone down the highlight a tad in post.
I'd go with a 3:2 comp and crop from top and bottom.
The eye looks great. You're having a great duck season.
Excellent preening pose with great colors and nice details.I like the beautiful eye.
Great composition too.Still little bit off from bottom and top will not harm the image.
Great job on doing whatever you did to get this close. 500 mm on a FF to get this shot ... you did a lot of things right.
The exposure looks great, the pose is great, the colors and details are great. Makes me want to go to the local pond to try to get some shots of these guys.
I love the detail in the feathers just above the water line. The white on the head looks fine on my MBP with plenty of detail but the detail in the white of the chest area is not as evident. Lovely bird and a great job all around.
Lovely. I love the preening pose, and the fine detail. Nice work getting close to this species; I'm still waiting for mine. Exposure looks pretty darn good to me -- the only thing that's blown is the white edge of the near primary; the rest is in the high 220's. You might eke just a little detail out of the blacks and the white breast. A fine image.
I do not get close to these guys very often either, at least not the males. Nice detail where there are some, especially the top of the head. A touch of fill flash, if this fella not too wary of it, may have given you a bit more detail in the face.
I am sure this was a tough exposure. I agree with Daniel about the fill flash. The BG is excellent as is the pose. Love that eye, hope you can get more images of this fellow.
Great job getting this close. One of my favorite ducks and you captured it well. Hard to expose is right. I shoot Shovelers allot and they are the same. Great darks and blown whites or vice-versa. Your darks are a little blocked but overall it looks great. well done.
Hooded Merganser Preening.
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