Canon 7D lens 100-400mm, lens length @400mm HH
ISO 320, f10, 1/800 SS
full frame, no editing
Please offer suggestions to me. I liked the exposure,colors, and motion. What work do you suggest for the head? Also, the bill looks washed out and how would I improve that? LR3 or PS5 Thanks, Ann
I am far, far from an expert on identification, but all the references I have plus my experience on the North Shore of MA says this is a red-breasted Merganser, not a common one. The thing that makes it stick out is the reddish/brown breast. While the head shapes of the Common and Red-breasted appear similar, the red-breased has this dark head in the males it is green in the best light. Again - I could be wrong.
In terms of the image, I know how hard it is to get good exposure on these birds without blowing out the whites. It looks like you did a pretty good job here - might try to take the whites down a bit more) with just a touch of - EV. The focus is sharp as can be from tail to beak f10 helped with that, though a slighter lower value would have blurred the background which is not distracting here but would have made the image a bit more pleasing. I also like being able to see the feet in the water a very nice touch. This may not have been possible, but it looks like the picture was taken looking down. It could be improved if you lower yourself so there is not such a steep angle - I know this is not always possible.
In terms of the crop, I would not put the subject as much in the center as it appears to me. I know the wake is nice but I might forgo some of that to get a tighter crop.
BTW the head is very hard to get the right light on and so while i agree you might want to add a bit more saturation to the bill (I would not go too far), it is tough to recover the green head if you do not get it right when the picture is taken.
Lastly, I love the catch light in the eye.
Here is one I took - in this case - I think the whites too could have been improved with more -EV and the head is not very good in that it is turned a couple degrees away, but it does show what the head color is:
Hi Ann, This is a Red-breasted Merganser, drake. I do wish the shoooting angle were less steep and that you had captured it swimming towards you rather than away from you. But you got some very good details in the head and your exposure looks good. The head of these guys has a bit of green in it. As presented I'd tighten up the comp w/ a crop from the bottom left and a small amount from the top if it were mine. Image quality looks good. Well done. Looking forward to more.:)
Jon, I looked at yours and you captured the green very well. I might tone down the highlights on the bill if it were mine and tone down some of the brighter whites-nice job!
Last edited by denise ippolito; 01-08-2011 at 03:41 PM.
Ann, I totally agree with both the critiques given. The biggest thing for me in this image is not the exposure but the fact that the bird is down below you and heading in the wrong direction. It's really important in 99% of the cases to get that bird coming at you instead of away from you and to be low enough that you can look him in the eye. There are certainly exceptions to these rules but I think you'll find they hold true almost every time. We need that eye to eye contact with the bird for the viewer to feel emotionally connected to the image.
You did do a great job of getting the entire bird and lots of details - from the beak to the feet - I can see it all and it's very nicely detailed.
Thank you all and yes my error, it certainly is a beautiful red-breasted merganser. I agree with the shooting angle, crop, and placing the bird in the ideal position. Will look for these tips... Ann
Cape Cod Common Merganser
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