Common Merganser Taking Off

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1DIV
700mm
Handheld from a kayak.

1.2500
f/5.6
ISO 500

Took this yesterday from my kayak here on Cayuga Lake in upstate NY. The merganser had just taken off from a log. Did some sharpening, NR, levels, and slight lightening of face in CS4. It's about a 50% crop.
Hope you like it. Very much welcome and appreciate all C and C.

[Mital Patel]

Melissa,

This is really great image and doing handheld at low level from kayak cheers on that.
Lovely sharp features and well framed image.
That tiny reflection effect is just lovable here.

was your focus point on front wing ? seem that really sharp and the face part is bit back compare to the focus on wing.

[Melissa Groo]

Thank you Mital. Is that something I can check in Photoshop or LR? Dumb question perhaps, but I don't know how to do that, check the focal point afterwards. I would think you might be right though, the focus might have been on the front wing. I was trying to act fast as the bird was just about past me. Thanks for your feedback.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very dynamic pose, looks like the speedy one that it is. The face does seem a tad softer than other parts of the bird, could be subject movement from the heading bobbing as it flaps its wings, but focus point being on the wing is vertainly a possibility. Great colours, and I especially like the blues of the water.

Easiest to check for focus point is in DPP, here is a thread that you will find useful for that:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ts-quot-in-DPP

[Ofer Levy]

Fantastic image! Head looks sharp to me but maybe needs some more sharpening for this web version.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

loved the eye level shooting angle. conveys speed. red against blue is beautiful. Well done, Mellisa.

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Melissa! I like the low angle, wing position and composition.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks everyone. Mital, you have a great eye! finally found my DDP disk, downloaded everything, figured out the AF thing, and indeed, the focal point is on the rear part of the right wing. I couldn't keep up with the speedster! Anyway, that AF Point is a great tool to have now at my disposal, thanks so much for tipping me off to it, Daniel.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Nice pose and dof as it gave a nice soft bg. I like your shooting angle too.

[Dan Busby]

Big points for pulling off HH from kayak Melissa! Great comp and especially great eye-to-eye low angle. I like the water droplets on the belly. That's a very aerodynamic bird.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Terrific image Melissa. Love the pose, and the gorgeous water. The bird placement and the low angle work beautifully.
Perfect comp too.
Shiny new toy? :)

[arash_hazeghi]

Awesome Melissa! excellent dynamic pose. agree with more sharpening of the head.

[Mital Patel]

Thanks everyone. Mital, you have a great eye! finally found my DDP disk, downloaded everything, figured out the AF thing, and indeed, the focal point is on the rear part of the right wing. I couldn't keep up with the speedster! Anyway, that AF Point is a great tool to have now at my disposal, thanks so much for tipping me off to it, Daniel.

Melissa, Thank you for your kind appreciation on the critique. I would say i learnt from here itself and so pointing it is fun once you make out so on the next bid we make sure for that.

[Melissa Groo]

Terrific image Melissa. Love the pose, and the gorgeous water. The bird placement and the low angle work beautifully.
Perfect comp too.
Shiny new toy? :)

Shiny new toy, indeed, Sidharth! I am very psyched.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks to all for your nice comments and helpful suggestions. Here is a repost with a bit more sharpening on head, hope it's an improvement.

[Roger Williams]

Great capture, Melissa, especially from a kayak with a large lens! The repost looks sharper on my monitor, not only on the head, but on the far wing as well.

[Stu Bowie]

Melissa, very well captured of what seems a very fast flyer. Nicely separated from the water BG, and your repost does look better. Well done.

[Arthur Morris]

Very dynamic pose, looks like the speedy one that it is. The face does seem a tad softer than other parts of the bird, could be subject movement from the heading bobbing as it flaps its wings, but focus point being on the wing is vertainly a possibility. Great colours, and I especially like the blues of the water. Easiest to check for focus point is in DPP, here is a thread that you will find useful for that: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ts-quot-in-DPP

I really like the image wishing for a bit of extra sharpening and that the wings were raised a bit more.

A fine point: you also can see the active focus point in BreezeBrowser's Main View, however, just because the active sensor is on point A or point B does not always mean that that area will be in sharp focus. If it is on an area of low contrast the system may have had trouble tracking focus.... Conversely there are times with flight or action images where the sensor is on the BKGR yet the image is razor sharp.... Not easy to figger out what AF is doing all the time....

[Ken Watkins]

Hand-held from a kayak?

That's amazing, you must go to the Okavango and have a try on a mokoro

Under the circumstances an amazing capture

[Melissa Groo]

Thank you Roger, Stuart, Artie, and Ken!
Yes, Artie, I too wish the wing had been completely extended upwards...
Cheers.