![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/double-crested-cormorant-4333b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"double-crested-cormorant-4333b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 248mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Two days ago while I was photographing other birds farther out on the water this juvenile Double-crested Cormorant popped up out of the water right in front of me and began sunning on a rock next to the shore. It was much too close for my big lens so I grabbed my 100-400 zoom and fired away as it groomed, spread its wings and flapped them often. It was facing away from me so most of my photos will end up in the delete bin but I think I got lucky with this one.<\/p>\n Here I like the sunning, spread-eagle pose, the early morning light, the mix of dark water and lighter rocks in the setting and the placement of the bird against the background (with dark water directly behind most of the cormorant instead of bright rocks). But I have pretty much the same things in a lot of my photos of this bird so what sets this one apart? For me it’s that perfect head turn combined with the appealing S-curve of the neck. With this head angle I have a great look at the eye in wonderful light and the brightness of the orange-yellow facial skin against the dark bird and background attracts the viewer’s eye right to where it should be – the face and eye of the bird.<\/p>\n That’s not to say this photo doesn’t have any checks in the minus column. My shooting angle is somewhat steep and I’m not happy with that green stem stabbing the bird right between the eyes.<\/p>\n But no photo is perfect and this one is likely to become one of my favorite cormorant shots.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some unrelated links that readers may be interested in: <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For some reason I seldom like my photos of this species very much but I do like this one.<\/p>\n\n