It's All in the Light - Common Merganser Mill Lake

[kenpossum]

Photography is all about the qualities of light. The intensity and direction determine if a photo opportunity is even possible. The photos below of a Common Merganser at Mill Lake would not have been possible had the lighting been in the wrong direction. The vibrant colours in the subject and surrounding reflections in the water help bring the birds to life. No wind on the water and sharpness (tripod) helped a little as well.

[oldfulica]

Hi Ken
Beautiful shots of the merganser. Your pictures seem to have blacker blacks than mine (at least that's what I think it is). I was wondering what color temperature you have your camera set to. Mine is set to 5200K.

[kenpossum]

Standard settings on the camera Len. I do like a little underexposure and added contrast (post processing) to keep the colours vibrant. Very little contrast manipulation where there are whites in the composition as it is easy to remove highlight detail in the process. Nikons handle colours differently than Canons. Both have their biases ie I find true reds a challenge for Nikons. I could go in and fiddle with that aspect, but I don't as the next picture taken may have to be readjusted and in the field I just don't have the time.

[dpeppar]

Great shot....I still do not have a good Mergansor shot

DaveP

[kenpossum]

Dave, this lady seems to be a regular near the boardwalk at Mill Lake. I have had two photo sessions with her so far, both with excellent light and reflections.