Hooded Merganser

[Jack Backs]

Fortunately got my 500mmF4 back from Nikon before last weekend. Taken early Friday morning. The only thing I removed was a secondary catchlight in the eye.
These birds unfortunately exceed the dynamic range of the D500 by a good margin. The blacks in the neck area are just that...pure black. There were some minor
blinkies in the whites as it was.
Nikon D500, 500mmF4VRII, TC-14EIII
f6.3, 1/2000s, iso500

[arash_hazeghi]

nice bird, you had good light angle and the whites are exposed nicely. I wonder if there is more detail in the blacks in the shoulder and back area ? IMO the reflection is not strong enough for this kind of composition, I'd go for a 3:2 and take space from the bottom

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot, I feel the black feathers are carrying too much blue and also they appear to be very dense, I am ambivalent regarding the crop but maybe a 5:4 vertical would have also been an option. I am not too sure if the water would look better with the blue removed also?

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Jack, nice look Hoody. The whites and black look great except for that shadow patch on the neck. I think it could be improved in Lightroom using the Adjustment Brush with a targeted adjustment on the darkest blacks. Thank you for sharing.

[dankearl]

.Excellent low angle..I liKe the comp.

[Volkan Akgul]

very good Jack.

congratulations

[John Mack]

Now that is a crest if a have ever seen one. Love the reflection and the low angle.