Hooded merganser

[Grace Scalzo]

Throwing one of my recent hooded merganser iamges into the mix here. Such tough birds to expose for. My histogram showed data in all the boxes and really close to both the black and white edges. So I had a bit of PP work to try and keep the blacks looking pretty and bring down the whites.

Thanks for looking and for your comments which are all appreciated.

1/1000, f10, iso800
Canon 1Dmk4, 500 f4 + 2.0 tc + lowered tripod

[Randy Stout]

Grace;

Welcome to my exposure world! (Loons present similar problems to expose well)

Handsome fellow, crest fully erect, good shooting angle. The slight browning of the the breast might be showing signs of the white recovery, the whites on the crest look natural. Good job on the blacks on the face. When the head is wet, it can be even harder to get a good looking result.

Cheers

Randy

[Grace Scalzo]

Hi Randy, I understand! That browning is present in the raw file. I do not know what caused that on this particular individual, but that was not my fault! Thanks for your comment on the crest, that is where I struggled.

I hope to photograph these ducks again in softer light someday.

[Mark Jones]

Brilliant shot Grace. Nice and sharp with great detail throughout along with a nice catchlight in the eye.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Grace, the white patch on the head must be a real challenge to expose correctly, and it seems you have done well there. The rest of the head as Randy states is exposed nicely, and the yellow eye pops very well. Love the angled swimmimg pose, and I do like the colour of the water. Hope you have more opportunities soon.

[Jon Swanson]

I see lots of these but rarely get an opportunity to photograph them. You did very well on the exposures and low angle. Shooting in softer light, I think, makes getting these exposures a little easier. I hope he sticks around so you can give that a whirl!

[arash_hazeghi]

A handsome bird and very tough to expose when the sun is out. I would try to bring out more detail from the blacks if RAW allows

[David Salem]

Hi Grace, Nice looking shot of this beauty. Tough to expose is right. Looks good overall and lots of nice detail. Another day with some diffused light would be great. Well done

[gail bisson]

Hi G,
Crest looks great.
Tack sharp as usual.
Nice low POV and body angle. Love the wet head!
gail

[Karl Egressy]

good shooting angle, nice fully erect crest, Grace. I cannot comment on the details as right now I'm on my laptop an it is not the best for details.

[Marina Scarr]

Super low angle and nice pose on the duck. Tough birds to exposure for as we all know and I think this one looks pretty good. The blacks look good to me.

[Randy Stout]

Hi Randy, I understand! That browning is present in the raw file. I do not know what caused that on this particular individual, but that was not my fault! Thanks for your comment on the crest, that is where I struggled.

I hope to photograph these ducks again in softer light someday.

Grace:

I suspected that the color was there originally, but I have certainly gotten some brown/grey discoloration when trying to save whites on a loon.

Often this color comes from the area they feed in.

Cheers

Randy

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Exposure looks great to me and the water color is nice too. I think you did great on a very difficult one to shoot.

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks everyone!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I htink you did a great job Grace! Love the wet crest, low angle, details. It may be just me or just an illusion, but I think a bit of CCW rotation may be good here.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Excellent shooting angle, love the raised crest, exposed very well, excellent IQ, and great pose.
Very well done.