Everyone (myself included) who sees Harlequins concentrate on the beautifully plumaged males. I thought I give some attention to the female of the species. This image was made in late December along the jetty at Barnegat Light, NJ.
Camera was my Canon 30D; Lens was the 400mm f/5.6L; Flash was the 430 EX with Better Beamer; all tripod-mounted.
1/200 sec at f/10; ISO 640; +2/3 EV; FEC -2/3
I cropped to put the duck in the upper left because I felt the rock was more interesting than the surf on this rather dark overcast morning.
I think you are right about the female harlequins being less photographed. I like the pose and eye contact and would have preferred a lower angle. The plumage looks a bit oversharpened on my monitor.
Thank you Loyce. Thank you Axel. As always, I appreciate the feedback and critique. I anticipated the "lower angle" comment. This image pre-dates the first of my "get lower" feedback and I have been much more cognizant of perspective lately. However, I must say getting lower is much easier said than done out on the jetty rocks.
The image looks very sharp but not oversharp to me but admittedly I may have hit USM one time too many. I will be more careful next time around. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Appreciate it.