So Pretty- Female Common Merganser

[gail bisson]

Took this yesterday at a local sandbar.
After sliding/crawling on the ice a distance of about 100m over 30 minutes I finally got this lovely lady in range. I blissfully took images of her and 2 males and a white winged scoter when I heard the dreaded sound of a car creeping up the road. The occupant watched me for a minute or two while I prayed for her to move on, but alas... I heard the dreaded "WHAT ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES OF?" as she slammed the car door and the ensuing sound of my ducks taking flight! Aaargh...
Canon 1DX and 1.4X
ISO 400
1/800 @ F 10
On lowered tripod, on belly.
Crop to 60% FF, NR to BG, levels, DE at 2% to body and 1% to fave, USM to JPEG.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from,
Gail

[Greg Oakley]

This is just stunning Gail! I love the hint of the ice, the blue water and awesome light. Add to that the perfect techs (well exposed whites), super detail and perfect pose...
All your hard work paid off here... (PS. you must have almost frozen while crawling over the ice)
Cheers, Greg

[douglas hayes]

Ah yes the dreaded ??? s. I have thought many times to carry a sign with a simple explanatory photo statement. Looks like the mergie had a hair cut. Love the BG with subtle blues.

[dankearl]

I think this is one of your best, seriously.
A Merganser, who would have thought?
IQ is great, the duck is sharp as can be, the ice & BG is terrific.
Nice work!

[Karl Egressy]

She is really pretty indeed. I like the low angle, many shades of blue in the for- and background and the nice soft light.
It is also great to see the legs and the whole body. Great work, Gail.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Great sharpness considering it was made by a 1DX and just a 1.4x TC (just kidding, I presume a 500 mm lens too). It just goes to show what can be done with extreme patience and tolerance of physical pain. Beautiful portrait, Gail!

[Raybel Robles]

Beautiful image!! your story made me laughed. I been there too "what are you doing?" :(

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful Gail, love the bird, love the background. Your story can be multiplied by twenty or more here in the winter in Florida. It is either other photographers or birders, the camera is like a magnet. Someday I am going to break and scream...GO FIND YOU OWN BIRD!!!!!!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, exquisite light and IQ, and your patience of crawling slowly over the ice has rewarded you with a suburb low angle. The colours of the merganser really pop against the winter surroundings, and love the soft winter blues of the upper BG. Well captured.

You are turning out some fine work.

[David Salem]

Way to get out there Gail! This is how you do wildlife photography, takes some time and patience. She looks great and I like the eye contact and the detail in the feathers. Nice icey colors to this beautiful scene. Well done. Those darn Humans :)

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Love this image Gail. Perseverance certainly paid off. Beautiful IQ, and she is sharp as a tack.



Geoffrey

[Grace Scalzo]

The bird is great, but the ice and the winter feeling put this one in a class of its own.

[Don Railton]

Absolutely Superb Gail..! I am glad you got your reward before the car arrived... I could have arrived 25 minutes into the belly crawl..

TFS

DON

[Marina Scarr]

What a little stunner. Love seeing him on ice and the punk hairdo is a riot. The layered effect worked nicely for you here.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great pose and colors.