Common Goldeneye - Angry Bird

[Daniel Cadieux]

I was again in the right place at the right time when this male Common Goldeneye rounded a corner and swam directly towards me, seemingly unaware of my presence as I laid prone on the ice. After coming in for a short distance it rather nonchalantly turned around and swam calmly back around the corner it came from.

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1000s., f/5.6, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, slight CW rotation, about 75% FF, deepened the blacks via burn tool, and sponged some colour back into the head feathers.

[John Mack]

Great low anlge with a nice head on view. The water drops on the head are nice. Like how the water just melts into the background.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Love the image. The wave, the color of the bird and the background, just wonderful. Thank you for sharing, Dan.

[annmpacheco]

Hi Daniel, I like your POV and right down the barrel but I am not a fan of the IQ here... The head colors look "unreal" to me and makes me wonder what was seen given the flat light etc, ( for me i've never seen the greens on a golden eye like this) Also, the gradient head feathers lose more detail as well as the body whites, etc, ... For me, not your usual image quality. TFS

[William Dickson]

Fab POV, DOF and pose. You got the whites looking good. As we talked about previously I think stronger light here would make for better colours on the head. Yes, not an easy bird to expose for.

Will

[Dorian Anderson]

Great angle, and the bow wave is really cool. Seeing both eyes like this is wonderful. I do agree with Ann that something looks odd about the head, but that may just be a consequence of such a perfectly square view.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Very effective, the low angle is terrific. Technicals all spot on, very pleasing frame.