Eider...Take Off

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX Mk2
f/4 400mm DO Mk2 with 2xiii
f/8
1/2000
ISO 640

We had some decent light last month here...This is one I captured in my hometown. I managed to get quite near a colony of Eiders in amongst the rocks at low tide, including this female....This is the first sightings of the females as they have been sitting on the nests for the past 4 weeks...In fact one decided to nest on the harbour wall outside my house..This is a first for this area...as they always nest on the nearby small islands ...I tried my best to look after the nesting bird, as I could see it from my balcony....I had to chase gulls a few times, and twice dogs went near and she jumped into the harbour, had a bath, then jumped back up, dried herself off, and back onto the nest...Two eggs were laid, and one chick hatched and survived Handheld ACR and PS2020

Will

[Brian Sump]

Will, a very interesting capture. First, the bird appears super sharp and the lighting is great.

At first it looks like she's jumping out of the grand canyon with a very ominous sky. There's a really cool 3D effect. On one hand she blends into the bkg but the dof makes it work for me.

I think we've talked about those odd lines and blotches that occur in the sky and bkg on certain images. It's very pronounced here, and some small artifacts in the blue area. Perhaps a little blending/smoothing could help.

Congrats on the shot!

[David Roach]

Everything Brian said (I love the sky and the rocks). I can feel the light with the falloff from light to shadow on this beauty. TFS

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that Brian and David....The BG is the sea with small islands further away...I see the posterisation, its not as bad as this on the TIFF...as you said Brian it only happens on certain images....

Will

[kevin Hice]

Interesting shot Will I like it very much details look good and sharp. Love the story along with the photo. TFS

[John Mack]

Nice you caught the bird just about to launch. Really like how the bird matches the rock color wise.

[Randy Stout]

Will:

The bird's sense of action/motion is strong, sharp, well exposed. I wish there was bit more color variation between the bird and rocks, just to help it stand out a bit more. Your good focus and the limited DOF do help however.

Fun story as well.

Cheers

Randy

[arash_hazeghi]

duck's fine it's just totally lost in the BG. not a keeper for me sorry :)

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Will I think this is a super shot, I love the way it is coming out of the rocky background, a different shot for sure - well done.

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the looks and comments....much appreciated

Will