Ohhhh myyyy I am loving that Shoveler shot Kirk, a favorite duck of mine that I have never got a chance at an IF blast off like this and man you absolutely nailed it my friend
Always nice to see Greenies and not often able to see the IF but again you are on target! By the way, IMHO I think your contrast is off on the Greenies, just going to post one for thought then will pull it, unless it was the warm light that did it??
RB Mergies are cool to see, landing shot is great, again this one seems a bit shallow on contrast?? I think you spoiled me with #1 Also, the shredding water in the landing Mergie looks strangely gray to me??
I always enjoy your post, Kirk. Your images all have clean bg, great sharpness and good composition. My favorite is the Merganser with the water droplet on its bill.
Tim Kuhn wrote:
Gold my friend pure gold. I scrolled through these and each one brought all sorts of thoughts of praise to my mind. You sure are skilled Kruk, even if you have a funny name. Seriously between your techs and your style you shots truly do stand out from the rest. Real eye candy my friend. You won me over with the first but even an easier shot, such as 3, is an excellent execution. Super work Kirk!
Tim
Many, many thanks for the very kind words my friend.
I love being a part of this community. You have seen firsthand the vast improvements in my images... that is a direct result of all that I have learned, and continue to learn, from people like you who continue to show others the way to better images.
jbr13 wrote:
Kirk, Very nice set. My personal favorite is #1.
What do you attribute the increase in keeper rate to with the D800? Is it ISO, the ability to crop in more, or something else?
Thanks for sharing the images and information.
Jason
Thanks for the good words Jason, #1 is one of my best IF's ever.
Coming from 5 years of shooting with the D300 and 300 f/4 with 1.4TC (which was always advertised as slow AF performance) was quite frustrating at times when I would get the perfect shot framed but often slightly OOF. The AF acquisition and tracking with this combo is vastly improved on the D800, especially impressed with acquisition. Any OOF frames now are totally on my tracking skills, when I keep the focus point on the bird the camera tracks it beautifully.
High ISO performance and the ability to crop more has also allowed me to keep images I wouldn't keep with the D300.
I love this camera and have no regrets whatsoever.
Shasoc wrote:
Kirk, you are making that camera sing!. These are really good. Every shot is sharp as a tack, with great colors and fine detail. Great quality work
Socrate
Many, many thanks for the very kind and generous words Socrate. I'm really enjoying the significant improvement in IQ over the D300.
??
Superb set Kirk !!! 
