Hooded Merganser

Gallery: AvianPosted January 18, 201186 views6 comments

Three weeks ago I was at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (SJWS) early in the morning and a birder said there were Hood Mergansers in the back area bridge. I headed out there and saw a male and female. It was foggy and dark in the high bush lined creek. I took some shots but they just barely showed the birds. I go to SJWS at least twice a week and check if they are there and this morning they were. I the light was better but shady. But I got some acceptable shots in sunny spots and I am excited because this was my first Hooded Merganser. Here is one in the shade, but I like the action. I croped this to 50% of the full frame to enlarge the bird and cut out three Shovelers. I have sharpened and increased exposure a little in Elements.
Comments are appreciated.
01-18-11 8:30 a.m.
Canon 7D
300 2.8L + 1.4 ext
f/4.5
1/1000
ISO 500
Exposure Comp none
Tripod

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on January 18, 2011 at 5:12 PM

Harry,
the light was very critical but you did your best on a difficult subject. I really like the pose of the bird and the droplets on the breast.

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

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 18, 2011 at 7:02 PM

If you developed this from RAW, there may be some detail in the blacks here. Even working with the jpeg file, S/H, levels, curves, all selectively applied, could bring out some detail possibly. The good news is you have an excellent action image with the possibility of making it better.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on January 18, 2011 at 7:23 PM

Harry, I like the pose but the light could have been better IMO. To my eye a little CCW rotation might be in order.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 18, 2011 at 9:10 PM

Like the pose & action Harry, but very difficult trying to shoot a B&W bird in the shade..
Very cool bird here

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 18, 2011 at 10:38 PM

Excellent pose and detail, Harry. If you can do it without blowing out the water, I'd up the brightness a bit. If you shoot in RAW you can do some shadows/highlights work to bring the bird out a bit more. That said, it still comes through nicely in the larger image.

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 19, 2011 at 9:14 AM

Harry, you caught a great pose and nice action with this shot. Congrats on getting images of your first Hooded Merganser! Overall the image is a bit dark and I wonder if you could increase the exposure in ACR some to lighten it up. In the field I would have tried some positive EV compensation. I hope they stick around and give you more opprotunities with them.

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