Pilings, study 3

[dwood]

The Merganser (I think that's what it is) on the right side of the frame would just not leave when I made this picture. I waited for quite a while but it refused to move on. So, the question is, is the Merganser disruptive to the image or does it work. I have mixed feelings. Of course, if you have any other comments, they're welcome.

-Doug

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I find two elements distracting: the whatchamacallit and the white-sh lump of snow/sand/rock in the left-hand corner. Ideally, the houses in the background would also disappear in the gradually thickening early morning mist or fog... add a 10x ND to smooth the water surface and you would get a... ok, I know, wishful thinking   Or perhaps that would be.. a pre-visualization?

[Joe Behar]

The Merganser (I think that's what it is) on the right side of the frame would just not leave when I made this picture. I waited for quite a while but it refused to move on. So, the question is, is the Merganser disruptive to the image or does it work. I have mixed feelings. Of course, if you have any other comments, they're welcome.

-Doug

Doug,

The bird is fine...might you have an exposure that does not cut off the tops of the pilings?

I find myself following the lines up the frame and then....it just stops.

[dwood]

Doug,

The bird is fine...might you have an exposure that does not cut off the tops of the pilings?

I find myself following the lines up the frame and then....it just stops.

Hi Joe,

From this angle, I wanted to capture some of the detail of that first piling and these things are pretty tall. Here's another angle of the pilings that gives a sense of the height of these things.

-Doug

[Joe Behar]

Hi Joe,

From this angle, I wanted to capture some of the detail of that first piling and these things are pretty tall. Here's another angle of the pilings that gives a sense of the height of these things.

-Doug

Doug,

I like this one much better, especially the bird

[dwood]

Doug,

I like this one much better, especially the bird

Thanks Joe. Just wasn't gonna be a bird free day. Ha.

[Ken Bennett]

Can't tell from a web jpeg, but I'd say it's not a merganser just from the body and bill shape. More likely a loon of some sort [edit: or possibly a grebe.] Where did you shoot this? Can you provide a very tight hi-res clip of the bird by itself?

[dwood]

Can't tell from a web jpeg, but I'd say it's not a merganser just from the body and bill shape. More likely a loon of some sort [edit: or possibly a grebe.] Where did you shoot this? Can you provide a very tight hi-res clip of the bird by itself?

Yeah, I really have no idea what it is but is was suggested to me that it might be a Merganser. Here's the subject in question...

[Jeremy Roussak]

It seems to me that the presence of the bird (whatever it is!) improves both shots.

Jeremy

[Ken Bennett]

It's a common loon in winter plumage. The overall coloring (black on the back, white underneath) and the bill (heavy and daggerlike) make it a winter loon, and the white indentation on the neck further identifies it as a common loon.

The bill length was throwing me for a minute (it's not long enough,) until I realized that his head is turned slightly away from the camera.

Mergansers have very narrow bills, and different body and neck patterns.

[dwood]

It's a common loon in winter plumage. The overall coloring (black on the back, white underneath) and the bill (heavy and daggerlike) make it a winter loon, and the white indentation on the neck further identifies it as a common loon.

The bill length was throwing me for a minute (it's not long enough,) until I realized that his head is turned slightly away from the camera.

Mergansers have very narrow bills, and different body and neck patterns.

I now know who to direct all future ornithology related questions to.

[DarkPenguin]

My eye immediately goes to the bird in both images.  I like em.

[Ken Bennett]

I now know who to direct all future ornithology related questions to.

Ha ha. We all need a hobby, birding happens to be mine. Gets me away from the cameras.