Surf Scoter

[Dorian Anderson]

This species winters in large bodies of water (oceans, estuaries, lakes, etc) along the coast and is very difficult to approach, a sad
circumstance preventing most from appreciating their multicolored and alien faces! I hope this close view - acquired from my kayak
on an otherwise fruitless outing yesterday - affords the close view most have hitherto missed......

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/1600 at f/5.6, ISO 1000, manual mode, handheld

[Colin Driscoll]

Solid portrait of what looks like a difficult bird with those blacks and whites. Nice bg and I love that textured blue bow wave.
For some reason I see a lot of Homer Simpson in this bird.

[annmpacheco]

Much appreciated Dorian! Th beak alone is a work of art. It must be so exciting to slowly approach the scoter and paddle away with this! Bow wake adds more interest. Well done.

[Bill Dix]

Amazing close-up that, as you say, most of us never get to see. Well exposed, on a bird difficult to expose properly. I also like the bow wave. Thanks for sharing this unique view.

[Randy Stout]

Dorian:

You are a braver man than I to handhold that rig in a kayak. I shoot from a kayak a fair amount for my loons, and wouldn't want to try that rig in it!

The bill, head is great fun, and yes, seldom seen in such detail,

In a perfect world, a bit more below would be nice, but probably not available.

Congrats. The time spent was worth it for this result.

Cheers

Randy

[John Mack]

The kayak strikes again. Like the framing here. A great view of that interesting bill and face. Nice and sharp. Also like the water in front of the bird.

[gail bisson]

An awesome portrait.
Exposure on whites and blacks are perfect! Love the bow wave and agree with Randy re: a bit more room below.
Would love to have this frame in my files.
Well done!

[Dorian Anderson]

Hopefully the more pronounced OOF body in this slightly wider view (with more at the bottom) works

[dankearl]

The OP is best for me.. I really like the Bow wake.

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool close up details of the scoter, details are great and the soft light helped here. cropping is a challenge given the FG wake

TFS

[Randy Stout]

Dorian:

I can see why you cropped the original post as you did. The head/bill obviously is the center of attraction here, so although the crop is a bit awkward, I would probably stick with it, versus the repost. Thanks for showing us what you had to work with. The second post would probably work better with out the large watermark.

TFS

Randy

[Dorian Anderson]

Cheers!

Dorian:

I can see why you cropped the original post as you did. The head/bill obviously is the center of attraction here, so although the crop is a bit awkward, I would probably stick with it, versus the repost. Thanks for showing us what you had to work with. The second post would probably work better with out the large watermark.

TFS

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

What a wicked view of that bill!! I appreciate the view of those teeth-like serrations on it too. Spot-on with both the whites and the blacks.

[Alex Becker]

Late to the party. Very nice portrait of this duck. Nice colors and details. Exposure looks good. I see a sharpening halo / outline on the edges of the bird -- I'm not sure if thats from Lightroom or Photoshop but may be worth feathering the selection more as it is reasonably visible in a couple spots (e.g., breast and top of head). TFS, I've only seen these birds reasonably far out.