This was over still water at Oak Hammock Marsh, Manitoba, recently. I know the bird is supposed to be looking into the frame, but I wanted to include the vertical part of the perch, and it's quite a large crop anyway.
Camera Model: NIKON D300
300 f/4 AF-S +1.7TC
Focus Distance: 15m
Aperture: f/6.7
Exposure Time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
ISO equiv: 500
Exposure Bias: +1.33 EV
I like the head angle and soft light. There is a lack of fine details, probably due to NR and I see sharpening halos around the edges. If it were mine, I might crop it as a vertical so that the bird does not look out of the frame.
Ditto Axel's comments. I think the vertical crop would really strengthen this image. Love the pose and beautiful eye contact. Thanks for sharing Richard.