Hi Will. What a great bird :) Such wavy water is great! I think the shot could benefit from a bit more contrast. Although I like the wave in the foreground, I would be tempted to see if cropping a wee bit off the bottom and adding some to the top would work.
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful sight, Will! Ross
Thanks for that Ross. These birds are close by, so, I probably photograph them more than any other bird. I remember my first eider image on here, had no detail at all on the blacks . And got a great deal of criticism, and I learned big style from that. I still find it difficult to get the exposure 'spot on' with these birds, because of the the black/white clash and the weather conditions here. So, you will be correct about more contrast, but I prob wanted to show more black detail, and eased off on the contrast because of my eagerness to show the blacks. Some time ago, someone, cant remember who, said 'if you get a good eye,you know your exposure is good' That inspired me
I see what you mean Will. Makes complete sense. I suppose mist/fog makes matters much more challenging too. If I look at just the bird, contrast seems pretty good. We do see details in both the white and dark areas. Perhaps it is the contrast of the background that gave me the impression? And of course the BG contrast is not all that important ;)
Nice look at this beautiful duck. Wish to see one some day. Well done
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I wish that the out of focus foreground wave was not in front of the lower part of the duck's body. I like a low shooting angle but am finding that getting just a few inches higher when photographing ducks helps. (if this is a concern of yours...maybe it's just me!)
Thanks a lot for the comments. Hi Grace, I have a few from a higher angle, and understand what you mean, but I have found that with eider duck, it is IMO better low POV
Beautiful duck in nice light. Exposure looks good, and you got some good fine detail on the breast. That FG wave, although pretty neat and mirroring the duck's curves, seems to take up lots of real estate down there and for that reason I agree trimming a bit off below would work.