Merganser taking off - what did I do here?

[Bill Dix]

D90; 80-400 @ 400mm. ISO 400. f/6.3 @ 1/1600s. Matrix metering @ -1.0 EV.

200 Common Mergansers arrived at our lake day before yesterday. Too far out for my lens, until a few swam into range just as the last rays of the afternoon sun hit them. I wasn't yet fully in position when she took off, so I essentially shot from the hip; focus point turned out to be on her left foot. Wish I had gotten her taking off toward me instead of away, so HAP will nab me. Can anyone tell me what (if any) intervention(s) I (may) have taken here?

[Desmond Chan]

I wasn't yet fully in position when she took off, so I essentially shot from the hip; focus point turned out to be on her left foot. Wish I had gotten her taking off toward me instead of away, so HAP will nab me. Can anyone tell me what (if any) intervention(s) I (may) have taken here?

Other than the angle, this looks good to me. Good timing, good pose, good exposure as shown ! So I'm not sure what intervention you would like to have taken. May be...should have kept your eyes on it all the time? :D

[Bill Dix]

Other than the angle, this looks good to me. Good timing, good pose, good exposure as shown ! So I'm not sure what intervention you would like to have taken. May be...should have kept your eyes on it all the time? :D

Thanks Desmond. I phrased the question poorly. The question is (or should have been), what did I do to this image, if indeed I did anything to it beyond the normal cropping and sharpening. (I'll post a full disclosure tomorrow.) Thanks for looking.

[VinceRossi]

Bill what lake around Princeton are you taken a shot like this from?

[Bill Dix]

Bill what lake around Princeton are you taken a shot like this from?

Hi Vince. This was on Carnegie Lake in Princeton. There have been a dozen or so Common Mergansers below the dam at Kingston for the last week or two (and possibly several hoodies), but the other night 200 showed up at the point where the Millstone River comes into the lake not far from US1. Last winter they hung out in the pond near Rt. 1 and Harrison St. but that has been frozen over which I guess is why they're in the lake itself.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Bill,
I like the walking take off and capture angle, we get to see the sharp eye and the intensity of the action. This tells the story indeed. I like the color rendition and fine feather detail...congrat on this one Bill...:cool:

[kostas nianiopoulos]

Hi Bill great fellow u got there , i love your image , verry nice moment of action .. only Jesus and those birds can walk on the water . well done .

[Bill Dix]

Thanks for the comments Desmond, Vince, Gus and Kostas. Nobody wants to take a guess at what interventions I took? Time for disclosure. I liked the position of the feet and body in this shot (even though she was headed away from me); but the shot taken 1/2 second before this one had a better wing position. So I decided to experiment with a bit of avian transplant surgery, and put the wings from shot #1 onto the body of shot #2. What you see here is a composite. Also cleaned up some highlights in the water, bill and feet; increased saturation of the body about 8 points, but de-saturated the red channel in the feet and bill; sharpened and lightened the eye; and cropped about 45%. Thanks for looking.

[Doug Brown]

I never knew you were a transplant surgeon!