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Thread: Surf Scoter

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    Default Surf Scoter

    From the kayak. This is the closest I've ever been to this bizarre but beautiful bird.

    I have chosen to keep the blacks as forceful as they appear in the field (versus raising them to show more detail as Kevin Hice did in his recent Raven image). Neither is better; It's all personal preference as far as I'm concerned.

    Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
    1/2500 at f/8, ISO 800
    Processed in LR with a very minimal run through Topaz to minimize crop-revealing noise. Cleaned up a few white flecks on the neck.

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    A really stunning presentation for me Dorian. Exposed very nicely and looks sweet against the water.

    Rich in color and a great view of the eye. Great job keeping the whole subject in focus.

    One thing I've found is running Topaz on lots of blacks will cause smoothing. So, I will usually mask the bird, putting the denoise layer on top of the original layer, and then brush with a black brush at low opacity down to reveal some of the original texture. Might be worth a try.

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    very nice Dorian, love this colorful portrait, black are good from here I see plenty of detail there. was this local? never seen one so close , that kayak must do wonders

    TFS
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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    BTW, what happens if you drop your rig in the water :D ? even with insurance it's a pain to re-acquire everything I am sure you have some trick to make sure the big rig is secure on the kayak
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    Real beauty here Dorian and I do agree with you I like this as much as mine. I could go either way. It seems like the audience always wants more detail out of the dark side. You are correct never will we see that detail in the field.TFS

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    Quote Originally Posted by arash_hazeghi View Post
    BTW, what happens if you drop your rig in the water :D ? even with insurance it's a pain to re-acquire everything I am sure you have some trick to make sure the big rig is secure on the kayak
    My inflatable is really steady; the tradeoff is that it really, really slow. There is virtually zero danger of capsizing, especially in freshwater or in the protection of Pillar Point Harbor where I captured this frame. Surf Scoters are all over, but the prefer open water, like on SF Bay and the front beaches. I've seen up to 5,000 at a time Coyote Point here in San Mateo, but they're always hella far out. There are always some in Pillar Point, but even they're a bit far without a boat. An yeah, I do have insurance, mainly for all the travel I do.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Dorian .... what a character !!!
    Very attractive Subject , super portrait . Composition is great , as are the colors ... from the tones there is more to extract . Even from the posted image !!!

    Very nice TFS Andreas

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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Dorian:

    Bold portrait of this outrageous looking fellow. Black point is fine on my end. I shoot a lot of birds with black plumage, and do raise the blacks at times, but always try to do so with a very light touch, or else they just look washed out.

    Cheers

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Way beyond stunning. Perfect head angle to go along with an amazing head!

    Please tell me that this bird was perched and out of the water ...


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    Hey Dorian, love the image. Interesting mix up of colors on the head, the white eye is really neat. Exposure on the whites and black spot on, nice black retaining feather detail. Thank you for sharing.
    Joe Przybyla

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    A real beauty Dorian! I like the exposure, details, HA and tight composition.

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    BPN Member William Dickson's Avatar
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    Striking image....Black V White works perfectly, and the colours on the bill and BG make for a very nice frame.

    Will

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    BPN Member Volkan Akgul's Avatar
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    hi Dorian,

    Congratulations

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    Excellent shot. I just love the colors.

    TFS

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