Common Merganser :: Aix

Gallery: AvianPosted March 7, 201098 views13 comments

We don't see the Common Merganser often up here in the mountains of Virginia but on a canoe trip down the Shenandoah River today I floted up on these guys. It took forever to get close enough for a photo and I had to go to a 2x extender to make a frame.

Model: NIKON D3
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh
Lens (mm): 1000
ISO: 800
Aperture: 14
Shutter: 1/1250
Exp. Comp.: -1.0

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on March 7, 2010 at 8:40 PM

Great find, I like that they are all facing in roughly the same direction giving you nice profiles. The rock is a wonderful perch for the group. I might suggest desaturating the water a little, looks a bit intense to me. A good argument can certainly be made for the pano view here, but if you have the room a bit more space top and bottom would work too I suspect. One of the nicest Merganser photos of recent memory.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 7, 2010 at 9:10 PM

This is awesome Douglas!!! Great composition and sharpness in all 4 birds.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 7, 2010 at 9:32 PM

Love it, Doug. I like the pano. Maybe just a smidge more on top, but nice as posted. I like the 4 birds and their poses. The perch rock is great and the water looks nice to me. A very tough exposure, especially on the big male. I think you did well. Just a very pleasing image of a cool species.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on March 7, 2010 at 9:37 PM

Wonderful composition, and well done job getting them all facing the same way.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 7, 2010 at 10:33 PM

Very cool group shot, Douglas. Great job on the dof and the exposure looks excellent.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 7, 2010 at 10:34 PM

very cool shot Douglas. Your text loaded before the photo, so as I read it, I wondered, 'hmm, wonder why f/14 with an ISO of 800?' Now I see--nice job getting all the birds in focus. Great poses, and I like your comp. Well done.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 8, 2010 at 12:13 AM

looks like a drake and his harem!
Nice catch to get them all in the same direction.
Nice group and habitat.
the water also seems over-satted from here.
Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on March 8, 2010 at 10:49 AM

Douglas:
Amazing that you have a catch light in all four birds! I really like the similar angle of head position and the alert poses.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 8, 2010 at 2:47 PM

Great composition, Douglas. Very nice image.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Roy Bailey on March 8, 2010 at 3:37 PM

I think this works realy well.Great intentioned depth of focus and the Male in front is just great. Maybe tone the blue down a little if possible, oh and great exposure control to

Registered on November 16, 2008, 24 Posts, 486 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 8, 2010 at 6:08 PM

What a great family portrait.

I love the crop , colors and dof

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 8, 2010 at 7:11 PM

Doug,

Excellent dof choise for getting all the birds sharp. I like the poses of the birds, the setting and the way they are all facing the same direction. If you have a little more room on the right and at the top I think the comp might be stronger with more space in those locations.

How wonderful to get close enough to this species to get this image!

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Bowers on March 8, 2010 at 8:20 PM

Great shot of an often hard to photo bird!

Registered on September 29, 2009, 9 Posts, 18 Comments