Harlequin Duck

[Mike Robinson]

I need help. I had an outstanding opportunity to shoot about 10 pairs of these in late afternoon sun. No matter what I tried I was unable to get a good exposure and not blow out the whites on the duck. Any suggestions?

Canon 1DM4
800 f5.6
Iso 400
1/1250 at f5.6
handheld

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose. I usually dial in -2/3 EC when photographing Harlequins. Sometimes you still have to recover some whites, though. If you go lower the dark plumage gets too dark. Soft light helps a lot with this species.

[Jeff Parker]

Wait for a bit of cloud cover?

[arash_hazeghi]

nice pose and details agree with Axel about -2/3 EV.

[Tim Munsey]

Wow, cracking pose, thanks for sharing.

Tim

[Daniel Cadieux]

Great stretching pose! Tough subject to photograph in the sun. If they are readily accessible, then yes overcast conditions would be a time to go back. If not, then you have to deal with what you have presented to you. You could always dial down to expose for the whites as Axel suggests, and use fill-flash to fill in the dark shadows.

[James Yule]

Great pose Mike, it is what it is. I love the shot either way but you could create a layer mask for the brightness/contrast and Ctr + I and paint adjustment detail back in. I have the same results with my shots of Harlequins.