Merlin at the Beach II - Testing the Waters.

[Daniel Cadieux]

After having walked over to the water's edge, it almost seemed as if the Merlin was testing the water temperature before committing to a bath. It's quite remarkable how long the legs are...my three year old nephew thought it was wearing pants!

Canon 7D + 100-400L @400mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/1250s., f/7.1, ISO 400, no EC, natural light, handheld, two flying insects cloned out, and a bit of crud at lower left edge cleaned up.

[Doug Brown]

Perfect head angle, and I like the hint of blood on the tip of the beak. Nice sense of motion created by the ripple and the way the bird is leaning into the empty space. I also like the bit of vegetation on the left.

[Arthur Morris]

Loverly bird, light, and blue water and I like that we can see a bit of the talon on the one foot. And the ripple.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

This one is really neat, quite unusual pose! I didn't know Merlin's were wading birds?
Nice shooting angle, exposure, I really like his lean, makes me think of a pirate for some odd reason.

Did you shoot a vertical on this one as well? Your low shooting angle would make the reflection somewhat weak, but it might really play up his long legs!

cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

What an opportunity. Amazing shot, Daniel. Who would think that a raptor goes into the water.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Did you shoot a vertical on this one as well? Your low shooting angle would make the reflection somewhat weak, but it might really play up his long legs!

Thanks guys!

Randy, no verticals in the series...the shoreline is just out of sight below the frame and spoiled what could have been a killer reflection...I tried some from a higher vantage point but to no avail. I did get some good reflections though as at one point it sorta sat lower and motionless in the water. Cool

[Gary Esman]

Absolute stunner. The lean is just way cool. Congrats on this one!

Gary.

[Jeff Dyck]

An unusual, yet beautiful posture in this shot Daniel - the pose makes me think of a speed skater!

[Ofer Levy]

Beautiful shot!!! The head is a bit centred for my taste and the seaweed a bit distracting. Here is a tighter crop with these issues somewhat addressed. WDYT?

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Daniel! I like the pose, low angle, ripples and details.

[Dan Busby]

A very unique photo Daniel. I have trouble finding these birds in the tops of trees and here you have one in this odd situation. Great capture. That lean is killer. As mentioned, the blood on the beak makes this real.

[Robert Holguin]

Phenomenal image!! Love the pose, excellent shooting angle, great water color, and excellent light. I really like the original post as to the repost.
Well done.

[Ishmeet Sahni]

An amazing image. Love the ripple in the water, the leaning pose, just that little bit of blood on the beak......... IQ of the image is also very good.

[Bob Dromgoole]

Just awesome all 'round! All the aspects and details work so well together.

[dankearl]

Great looking pose and a cool, cocky looking bird.
Nice job using an f7.1. DOF is really good, got the tail sharp.

[Mital Patel]

another stunner merlin shot Daniel.

i like both op and ofer's.

[Ken Watkins]

Daniel,

Nothing much to add to the above except MARVELOUS

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool! I love the pose, soft light and nice details. great

[Jonathan Ashton]

Excellent capture - love the pose.

[Mark Itol]

Stunning shot, Daniel. Love the head angle, water ripple, and those "pants." I'm with Ofer re cropping.

[Herb Houghton]

Excellent job. It must have been nice to be this close to a merlin. I love the soft light and the clarity is top notch.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thanks all! Ofer, your tweak is subtle but effective. Thanks for taking the time!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

He is so cute and how cool to get him in the water like that. I agree with Ofers small tweek made it just that much better. The water ripple is so cool how the blue tones change. Nice shot Daniel.

[anujgandhe]

superb exposure, loved the blue water BG.

[Petros Petrou]

What a unique image! Great detail and light. I like the leaning pose and the eye contact.
How did you get that close? Did you use a hide?

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Dan, everything works here. Low perspective, cool leaning pose, and just love the soft light with the pastel blue of the water. I can see why you stopped your comp on the RHS as you did.

[Daniel Cadieux]

What a unique image! Great detail and light. I like the leaning pose and the eye contact.
How did you get that close? Did you use a hide?

Thanks Petros! No hide...this was one of those lucky moments where the merlin just simply landed on the beach close to me. I did take a low and slow approach to get closer, but didn't need to get that much closer to begin with

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Dan, very very unique...clarity is excellent....a shorebird composition of Merlin...loved the light and sharp details. looking forward to the next one...