Hooded Merganser
This diminutive drake was having a hard time getting his catch into position. The fish wasn't making it easy for him. This frame shows he has finally gotten the fish's head pointed in the direction of his gullet, but it took additional attempts before he finally got it down. From Silver Lake, NJ on Friday, a heavily overcast day.
D500, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 3200, 1/2000s @ f/7.1 manual, fill @ -2.0
Lovely image, Bill. Your cold crisp air is wonderful for shooting across water. Here most times fighting water vapor. I like the low angle, detail and colors on the bird, the fish and water droplets all make for a wonder filled image. Thank you for sharing.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
www.amazinglight.smugmug.com
I like the action you captured here Bill! I like the arc of the water drops, low angle, complimentary BG and composition.
Awesome frame. Love the fish and the water drops.
This is a really nice frame Bill.
I love the arc created by the water drops. Blacks and whites are very well exposed and you have an excellent POV and good BG (perhaps smoothed a bit too much?)
The gold tones are very nice.
Well done,
Gail
Thank you all. Gail, something was bothering me about this even before I saw your comment. Here's another try.
Yes, this is better!
Really nice Bill -- the RP is better for me as well. I also love that arc! The water on the back is nice as well. No nits out of me, I haven't had much luck approaching this species so jealous. TFS
Wonderful work, Bill. I think the reduced background blur in the repost is an improvement too. Otherwise, hard to imagine how you could improve on this. That scatter of water drops conveys the action in this scene so well. The colour and detail are up to your usual high standard. Not sure if you could pull any more detail out of the whites particularly on the breast? Can't wait to see what you get on your forthcoming travels.
Congrats on getting close to a Hoodie. They are so **** elusive. I love the action. I do wish for a better head angle but I know that we do not agree always on this issue. Also I find the colors of the bird a little too muted. Surely the heavy overcast did not help you here as I don't see enough details in the dark areas of the bird. I agree the background is better in the repost.
Good one, Bill. Action captured perfectly, with nice arching water droplets. Background is an improvement in repost.
Geoffrey
https://500px.com/geoffreymontagu
Thank you all.
Bill:
Very well captured, as mentioned above. The drop arc is great, action, colors. I might go somewhere between the two on the bg detail, but of the two presented, would take #2.
Cheer
Randy
Thanks Randy.
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