First winter Common Goldeneye drake mid-dive, Salt Lake County, UtahFirst winter Common Goldeneye drake mid-dive – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

A simple post again this morning…

When I am photographing Common Goldeneyes diving I try to capture the moment just before their eyes go under the water but because it happens so quickly that even with the fast burst rate of my Nikon D500 more often than not I miss it. Some times I don’t like the images where I do manage to capture their eyes just above the water because of motion blur, lighting, lack of sharpness or just having another out of focus bird in the frame.

I had forgotten about this photo that I took last year on Christmas day and this morning I decided to go ahead and process it.

I like this image because I was able to capture the eye of this diving first winter drake Common Goldeneye just as it is about to go below the surface of the pond but I also like what is going on with the water in this frame too. As the goldeneye pushed its face and bill into the water the splashed in front of its face creating a liquid veil over its gold colored eye. I also like how the feet of the duck created movement in the water behind it that pushed the surface of the water there below the surface of the rest of the pond. This isn’t exactly the image that I have been trying for but it is close, real close.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Common Goldeneye photos plus facts and information about this species.

P.S., I know that this is a first winter drake Common Goldeneye and not a female because it has a white cheek patch that females do not have, we just can’t see that patch because it is under the water in this photo.