Hi All,
Shot this fellow at a local state park. The only thing predictable about these guys is their unpredictability. They’re skittish and stay out of photographic range 98% of the time, but they’ll also fly in and swim right in front of you for 5 minutes before flying off again. Got lucky this morning.
Didn’t do much in post. Just cropped slightly, set white and black points, cleaned up the water a little bit, sharpened the bird, and ran some NR on the BG. I’ve been attempting to shoot at lower ISOs to see whether the improved image quality is worth the trade-off of more blurry photos. So far, IMO, the answer has been yes. This is one example. The light was low; had I shot at ISO 2500-4000, the quality would have suffered a good bit as compared to this cleaner file. Of the images in the sequence, only one is a little less sharp. Anyway, just something to consider for those who are interested!
Techs:
D850
700mm, handheld
1/250
f/6.3
ISO 800
All C&C welcome.
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Excellent point of view. Well composed. Nice color and water. A reasonable assortment of stuff in the water. The main thing I notice in the larger image is blue cast interspersed with some of the black plumage. As with Bufflehead’s, getting a good exposure on a hooded merganser can be difficult. One thing I would suggest that you consider is getting DxO photo lab version 3.2 elite edition and trying their noise engine on higher iso files with your D850. I’ve been able to shoot at iso 25,000 and have reasonable and clean images using the DxO product. No I don’t like shooting that that high iso but up to 5000 to 8000 isn’t bad. You can get a trial product for 30 days and give it a whirl.
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Great catch on the blue. There is quite a bit in the neck. Easy enough to fix.
Thanks for the DxO recommendation. I have seen people elsewhere mention that they like DxO, but I’ve never tried their stuff. Will have to give them a look, although, admittedly, one of the reasons I’ve been experimenting with lower ISOs and shutter speeds is because I don’t have much time to spend on post processing.
Hi Lyle, the detail looks good to me especially considering the slow shutter speed. I’m wondering if there is an ISO sweet spot for you in this kind of photo that would allow a ss of around 1/500s - maybe an ISO of around 1200-1600. I would think the D850 would handle that ISO well.
I like this frame - really handsome bird and nice profile view. I might take out the oof blob in near left of frame. A fine image.
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I like the low angle of the shot. Detail looks good and I like the colors in the water, though was the blurred water behind the duck from the shot or done in processing? The change in water focus seems very sudden behind the duck creating, at least for me, a sense that there is a vertical screen behind the duck. Nevertheless. a beautiful image of the merganser.
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Thanks, @Allen_Sparks. ISO 1600 is fine, but you can tell a difference in quality compared to photos below ISO 1000. In all honesty, I wasn’t really set up for this shot; even with my experimenting, I wouldn’t have shot these rare visitors at 1/250 handheld by choice. Clouds had rolled in, and I was about to leave when this guy and a hen swam in. I’d been shooting in somewhat brighter light, but I didn’t have time to change settings when they popped around a log. I noticed that my SS was 1/250, so I tried to hold steady as best I could. Just looked back at the photos from this encounter–I only shot for 12 seconds. I believe I was attempting to raise the ISO when they flew off.
@Allen_Brooks, nope, didn’t do anything to the BG besides run some NR. Shooting prone will result in a really sharp DoF fall-off. I think there were ripples in the water that created that disuniform effect.
Nice one, and I recognise the behaviour you describe 
… The image came out nicely, agree with the blueish cast though. I am fully with you on trying to shoot lower ISO’s. Brands claim quite some things, but I don’t feel comfortable with iso higher than 1250 or 1600, but preferably and most of the time well below 1000. D850 is good, D4s is better at high ISO’s in my experience. D500 remarkably good as well. Anyway, you had your lucky morning ! Cheers, Hans
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A beautiful bird and an excellent capture of it, Lyle! Low ISO with low shutter speed works good for those slow moving shots. The only nit I have with this shot is the blue cast which is common in low light situations.
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