Although I often see these ducks while photographing by a local river, they are very skittish and I have been trying to get a good photo for a long time. This one was taken during the "golden hour" of late afternoon as he was going through a narrow part of the river.
Is there too much contrast on the merganser? Lightroom does not show any clipping in either the whites or blacks.
It's hard to answer your question about contrast because the bird is quite small in the frame. It appears that the white area behind the eye is a little hot and I don't see a lot of detail in the neck. Also the bill looks white near the eye. With persistence you'll get an opportunity to photograph one of these guys much closer to you. Please try to include tech specs with your photos. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Joël...it would be nice to see some image details such as camera/lens, but I suspect that this might have been from something in the 300mm range. It's a beautiful bird, but the merganser is still quite small in the frame. Maybe with patience they will grow use to your presence and eventually come in closer. It's a tough bird to expose properly and I think I'd probably go just a bit lighter in the blacks while holding the white right where they are (using a layer mask if necessary). I can certainly apprecaite the difficulty of skittish ducks...you'll eventually get some up close! Thanks for sharing.
Lovely colors in the water Joel. Not sure about how it is where you are, but here in the west the males and females are starting to pair up, and it seems that where ever the females are headed the males are following. What i have been trying to do is to try to get low and behind some grass or bushes and wait for them to come to me. I have had a few good opportunities, but with the Better Beamer, I have blown out the whites, but am getting closer to get something worth while. Good Luck Dave
Hooded Merganser
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