I worked hard for this photograph. There were 40 mph winds, clouds, light drizzle, ice and gray reflecting water which made for horrible photography light conditions on the shores of Lake Superior. However, a red-breasted merganser is a beautiful duck.

I finally found this guy resting which allowed me to:

• Hide behind some huge boulders to somewhat protect me from the wind and thereby enable hold the camera steadier
• Allowed me to move behind a boulder down on the shore while the merganser was submerged so as not to spook him
• Enabled me to take three pictures to combine via HDR and thereby help me handle all the shades of white, gray and bring out the merganser’s eye

I hope you agree this is a pretty bird in a beautiful frozen environment.

• View this project’s Flickr photo stream. (click upon image to view at full size)