Posing Common Merganser

Gallery: AvianPosted April 28, 2014115 views5 comments

I rarely post in the Avian Gallery, mostly because I don't spend a lot of time pursuing birds, and even when I do, I often can't get close enough to fill the frame with the subject. Last year, (after trying to shoot an eagle with my 17-70 mm. lens) I began keeping my longest lens (100-400 mm. zoom) on an older extra camera body in my canoe, so I could spend more time shooting instead of trying to change lenses. The afternoon light (with some help from the bright sky and reflective water) on this young female common merganser made me glad I was prepared. I think the direction of the light worked well with this preening pose, even with such high contrast. (This is only about half the frame, since I cropped more for NPN than I normally would for my own purposes.)

Canon 50D; Canon 100-400 mm.
1/640 sec. @ f/9; ISO 400
Hand-held from canoe
October, in the Adirondack Forest Preserve

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on April 28, 2014 at 11:43 PM

Beautiful, Wayne. Great light. Very sharp image.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on April 30, 2014 at 1:00 AM

A great shot, Wayne! A small nit, which you might disagree with. I would clone out the stob and its reflection behind the birds neck.

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

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 30, 2014 at 1:16 AM

I really like the low angle you have here. Nice light and detail. I'm inclined to agree with Phil on removing the stub protruding from behind her.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on April 30, 2014 at 2:09 AM

Thanks guys. I agree that the bright, protruding stub is something of a distraction. If I were to regard this as a wall-hanger or perhaps use it strictly for an ID illustration, I would sink the stick. I don't normally use my bird shots for those purposes, however; they are more documentary (occasionally appearing in wildlife agency books and magazines, where the editors are not fond of significant alteration of images. If I knew anyone who thought this was an artsy enough pose to hang a print of it, I would not hesitate to do some cloning and selective lens blur, etc. I just don't know people who frame close-up photographs of birds (other than photographers who have their own photos). Paintings are another story.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 30, 2014 at 9:38 PM

I like the preening pose and the strong directional light works here.
Great details, nice look at that eye too Wayne

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