I think I’ve made it clear that I can’t decide what was my “best” picture of the year or even my favorite picture of the year because so many factors play a part in making that decision.
However, if I were going to enter a single picture in a photo contest, I think it would be this one of a male Red-Breasted Merganser taking off.
A male Red-Breasted Merganser in full breeding colors is, in my opinion, one of the most spectacular ducks. The shot captures an explosive moment. Even in full sunshine with an extremely fast shutter speed, parts of the picture are blurred — suggesting the actual speed of its takeoff. In reality, the bird wasn’t nearly a clear as this picture is. I suspect that if I were making an 8×10 or larger I would leave more space to the right instead of framing it the way I did, but this seems well framed to me. Finally, I love like the colors in the picture