Fishing lessons

Great action shot Roger,
The detail, color, water and framing are excellent.
I am interested in your set-up as I was shopping Friday for a Sigma 150-500 with the Sigma 2x to go with my 7D. Are you happy with this lens as it seems to be a great buy with the Sigma sale now on going. I rented a Sigma 50-500 for 5 weeks during my Florida Spring Break Tour and was happy except for a few details. I have been told by the saleswoman that the problems will not happen with the 150-500, mostly the auto focus when following moving subjects ?
Oh by the way this image seems a bit bright on my monitor but I can see it necessary to get the eye detail you achieved,
Well done and thanks for any input.

Thanks for your comments, Mike. I am quite happy with the 150-500. It have had (and still have) a lot of fun with it, have learned a lot and got some decent pictures. It has probably close to 80k actuations on it and has never required any repair. It is however fairly slow, both from an optical (aperture) point of view and from a focusing (AF) point of view. I find it difficult to get small, fast flying birds into focus. I do have the 1.4x Sigma that I use with the 150 mm macro and I keep thinking that I will try it out one day with the 150-500, though I am not holding my breath: autofocus will be lost (on the 7D) and from what I have heard, the optical quality also deteriorates. Are you thinking of using the 2x with the 150-500?

I also think that the sharpness falls off at around 430 or 440 - that is without an extender. It is fairly heavy, but that is not really an issue as I use a modified R-strap that keeps the pressure of the strap off my neck and the torque of caused by the weight of the lens off the lens mount.

Feel free to e-mail if you have any more questions. Roger

Excellent timing to capture this perfect mouthful! I like that you can see the serrations on the bill. Sharon

Beautiful timing, Roger. I love the way the fish is suspended in the bill.

Nice timing! Credible exposure in what looks to have been tough light. You might try selecting the bird, inverting the selection and bringing the background down just a bit. Might not work with all those spiky feathers, but worth a try.

Neat shot Roger. It almost looks as if the fish is jumping into the Merganser's beak.
I've never seen one of these birds so the serrations on the beak are a revalation to me.
A sharp image with loads of interest. On my monitor the back feathers look a wee bit light, which shoul dbe fairly straightforwrd to fix.

Very nice. Like the observation.