Common merganser and fish

[gail bisson]

Set up my blind at the edge of the pond. The ducks know I am there but tolerate me in the blind. They rarely come this close to me but this one popped up from her dive about 5 feet away from me. I could not get the whole bird in the frame so concentrated on the head action.
Canon 1 DX3
600mm v.3 and 1.4 x v.3
Crop to 60% FF.
ISO 400 SS 1/2500 f 6.3
Cloned out a second highlight in the eye and one on the bill.
I am finding the files from the 1 Dx3 so sharp that I am barely sharpening in post.
I wish the fish had been facing us but will take this one for now.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Excellent shooting angle, fish, head turn, drop on bill and feathers, open bill and engaging eye.

A bit more DOF for the crest, which was thrown out of focus by the head turn would be nice, but truly a minor point.

Well done.

Cheers

Randy

[Jonathan Ashton]

A really eye catching image Gail, looking at your techs I would have definitely gone for a smaller aperture at this magnification - probably f11.
Fish pointing the wrong way - doesn't trouble me at all.

[Bill Dix]

Great head shot. Love the detail, head angle and the drop on the bill. Don't you wish we had time to analyze the situation, say to ourselves "yes she is very close so I'll up the ISO and go for a smaller aperture". By that time she would have eaten the fish and dived again.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Stunning shot, Gail. Excellent points mentioned above. I like the comp. and definitely don't mind the angle of the fish.

Out of curiosity, how does a new camera affect the sharpness of a file, especially when there's no increase in resolution between the current and previous iterations? Is it due to the newly-designed sensor or perhaps better optimization within the system? In any case, the difference in sharpness is certainly a noticeable and welcome improvement Your images were plenty sharp earlier but now they're in a totally different league. TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

looks good, I like the closeup details and the view of the serrated teeth and the fish, in a perfect world the fish would be facing our way :)

TFS

[gail bisson]

Stunning shot, Gail. Excellent points mentioned above. I like the comp. and definitely don't mind the angle of the fish.

Out of curiosity, how does a new camera affect the sharpness of a file, especially when there's no increase in resolution between the current and previous iterations? Is it due to the newly-designed sensor or perhaps better optimization within the system? In any case, the difference in sharpness is certainly a noticeable and welcome improvement Your images were plenty sharp earlier but now they're in a totally different league. TFS

Thanks for the kind words Aditya. I too, have been wondering why my images seem sharper. The Canon white paper says "Featuring a Canon-developed 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor with approx. 20.1 effective megapixels, the EOS-1D X Mark III camera is engineered with a new imaging system, designed to capture sharp and detailed images, " so perhaps it is due to the new sensor. Perhaps, as with all new toys, I am paying more attention to my technique? Just like when I get a new golf club I seem to play better but I am sure it is because I am paying more attention to my grip and posture and slowing down my back swing etc etc. I also think that the new autofocus system helps to acquire critical focus quicker for fast action sequences. This merganser popped up from the bottom of the lake right in front of me and I was able to immediately get focused. The whole scene lasted about 3 seconds which is long enough to fire off about 40 frames at least! That helps a lot. I have avlot more keepers to choose from with the 16 FPS.
Gail

[dankearl]

Very nice closeup and excellent details.. I just wish the fish was bigger...

[Mike Poole]

Perfect timing o the shot - it does look on the edge of being over sharpened to me with the body feathers, but that may be a combination of the light, lack of crop, monitor differences etc. I'm still on a 1920px, you're on an iMac I believe?

Either way, an image I'd be thrilled to have taken, good actions from you as these birds don't hang around, and lovely colours

Mike

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, no need to worry about the fish being in the wrong direction - the sharp detail and colours out weighs that. Excellent eye level perspective, and the serrated edge of the beak really adds interest. Love the droplets all over the Merganser. Well timed of the surfacing too.

[John Mack]

Love these one. Nice light and the fish is great. Framing is right on. Detail looks right on.