Spectacled Eiders

[Lana Hays]

This was from an incredible early morning in Barrow, AK. As described by Artie....cold, windy, and wet crawling and sitting to photograph. Being surrounded by good birds and great photographers made the day a wonderful experience. I am in awe of these birds and grateful to be here with the tundra experience. Life is good!!!

Canon Mark IV, 500mmL IS, 1.4X TC, tripod
ISO 800, f/9, ss 1/800
A decent amount of cropping all around, RAW conversion, levels, USM

[Harshad Barve]

wow , what an amazing pair , lovely HA , great light , spot on techs and killer BG , big congrats
TFS

[Sid Garige]

Exceptional image Lana. Great light and fantastic details. Getting both of them in the same frame is making this even special.

I should put Barrow on my list next year.

[John Ippolito]

Lovely capture of this pair, Lana. Both are in excellent pose, and the light is wonderful. Well done!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Great image of a good-looking pair in some harsh habitat! Well done, I love the presentation.
Cheers
Ákos

[Jan Wegener]

incredible image. The light is just awesome! Getting Spectacled Eiders must be a stunning experience. Making such an image must feel even better :)

[Matthew Studebaker]

Wow- excellent Lana! They weren't on the same plane of focus for a lot of us in that position. What a shot! I wonder what that shadow is on the male? It's not very noticable.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great to have two in the frame, composition and setting add to it. I would sharpen the female more. Have fun there, on the bright side, there are no mosquitoes. :)

[Krijn Trimbos]

Gorgeous shot Lana! Love these rarely photographed ducks in their habitat shot! Excellent job getting both male and female in a single shot. The light is great as is the exposure, I would take a smidge more of the bottom I think otherwise congrats!

[Laura Stiefel]

Lana,

I think this is one of the finest images I've seen from Barrow. Just beautiful!

I'm glad to hear you've been having a great time. I missed seeing you this spring. I was out at Magee about 6 times but I tried to stay away from the fray.

Looking forward to more images. :)

[John Chardine]

Lovely to see Lana. Come on Artie, they have to be as beautiful as King Eiders!

The only thing I would try is a slightly different composition. With the male on the right being the "primary", in-focus bird in the image I would give him precedence and trim some off the right. Agree with a little off the bottom too.

[Craig Brelsford]

A shot to treasure . . . I love the soft Arctic light and the setting on the tundra. Life indeed is good, Lana!

[Juan Aragonés]

Lana this one is really outstanding. Love everything about it :)