Simply feathers......(9)

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Archive 2009 · Simply feathers......(9)

Karl Witt
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p.1 #1 · Simply feathers......(9)

Yes, I do enjoy birding and the photo opps it offers

I finally got a window of sunshine with a day off so knowing that the flowers aren't growing I figured I would add a few 'feathers' to my mix

I have never had much luck shooting ducks IF mostly because I haven't found a good place for them but sure have seen some beauties here on the forum lately so I tried to acquire a few, dang they are fast!

Found a nice Eastern Bluebird to pose for me too and a European Starling in Fall/Winter plumage. I believe the sparrow to be the American Tree Sparrow?

Images compliments of my 50D, a wonderful loaner 300 f/4 IS, thanks TK

and a wonderful loaner 100-400L thanks DI

Most of the small birds are cropped up 33% and as Kirk would say, stretchin that 300 out

That 300 is sharp as a razors edge!

Thanks for stopping in, your comments and questions are genuinely appreciated and always replied too

Karl...........

1 Mr Mallard greets me with an early fly by
2 I know where he was hiding
3 Back to join the ladies

Canon EOS 50D 300 mm f/5.6 1/1000 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 300 mm f/7.1 1/500 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 300 mm f/7.1 1/400 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

Edited on Nov 19, 2009 at 08:41 PM · View previous versions

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:30 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #2 · Simply feathers......(9)

4 Bluebird
5 Bluebird
6 yep, bluebird again!

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 400 mm f/7.1 1/1000 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 400 mm f/5.6 1/1600 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 400 mm f/7.1 1/640 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:31 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #3 · Simply feathers......(9)

7 Sparrow in the clouds
8 Classy European Starling
9 I'll keep an eye open until you come back, thanks for looking

Thanks
Karl

Canon EOS 50D 300 mm f/6.3 1/500 sec 400 ISO +0.3 EV

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 300 mm f/6.3 1/1000 sec 500 ISO 0.0 EV

2012 © Karl Witt

Canon EOS 50D 300 mm f/7.1 1/250 sec 320 ISO +0.3 EV

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:33 PM

Tim Kuhn
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p.1 #4 · Simply feathers......(9)

Mr W, look at you shooting birds

Flyer 1 is looking real good buddy, two is going away from you

and 3 the duckies are laughing at you for only getting them once they past you

Just joking, nothing wrong with 2 and 3 is a nice shot of the couples.

Now the bluebird. Well....... those 3 are absolutely wonderful!! 5 is a nice wide comp and 6 is just as sweet. I'm loving all 3 of those.

Sparrow in the clouds is a cool effect, the starling itself looks great, those guys are tough to expose well. I'm not sure about the stick

The last Mr Duck is a super shot! Fantastic sharp details, you got that rig singing on that shot.

Real strong set Karl

Tim

Edited on Nov 19, 2009 at 08:43 PM · View previous versions

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:36 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #5 · Simply feathers......(9)

Tim Kuhn wrote:
me first

OK, please proceed...........

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:39 PM

Martin Good
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p.1 #6 · Simply feathers......(9)

Hi Karl,
Good to see you out diversifying when the flora is all but tucked up in bed for the winter.
1 The fly by catches the light nicely for you
2 Nice bit of wing blur
3 Guess they were happy to see you and wanted to have a little chat
4-6 Of the bluebirds # 6 is tops and tops too of this set for me. Beautiful bg sets the bird off so well here buddy. You nailed this one!
7 Low flying coulds here all right but doesn't seem to bother the sparrow, very nice!
8 Beautiful Starling. Love the colors in these guys when the light catches them. My second pick!
9 Very nice looking duck and lovely pose but that big stick in the right forground is a spoiler, pity.
A very enjoyable set Karl and the winter will test the flora guys patience most I think.
Martin

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:43 PM

Tim Kuhn
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p.1 #7 · Simply feathers......(9)

Karl Witt wrote:
Tim Kuhn wrote:
me first

OK, please proceed...........

Hey I got long winded

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:43 PM

Desert Drake
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p.1 #8 · Simply feathers......(9)

Oh, Karl, those are great. You need to tell me where he is hiding!

#3, #5, and #6 are fantastic.
Nice captures.
Al

Nov 19, 2009 at 08:52 PM

David Israel
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p.1 #9 · Simply feathers......(9)

Karl, you surely must be happy with these shots. I also have to agree that the 300 f/4 IS is a fantastic lens and can produce some very sharp and detailed results (as evidenced by these fine feathery shots).

#'s 1, 6 and 9 are outstanding! In fact, when I saw the first shot my first thought was "wow, that's a great shot!"

I took the day off on Tuesday to go to a NWR about 90 minutes away. It rained the entire day, but I did come away with a nice White Pelican and a Jevenile Bald Eagle eating lunch. Like yourself, I hadn't been birding in quite a while and was suffering some serious withdrawal. You know what I'm talking about. I figure I should have the images processed and ready for posting by 2011.

Nice to see your fine feathered work up here again. BTW, that Starling has some great colors.

Dave

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:02 PM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #10 · Simply feathers......(9)

1, 5, & 6

Tony

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:21 PM

Mr Zoom
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p.1 #11 · Simply feathers......(9)

Outstanding burd florals, Karl-a

Super series that Mr. Z

m enjoyed quite muchly

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:24 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #12 · Simply feathers......(9)

Tim Kuhn wrote:
Mr W, look at you shooting birds

Flyer 1 is looking real good buddy, two is going away from you

and 3 the duckies are laughing at you for only getting them once they past you

The last Mr Duck is a super shot! Fantastic sharp details, you got that rig singing on that shot.

Real strong set Karl

Tim

Thanks on the #1 flyer Tim and I think this was the first shot of the morning. I'll have to work on them jumping up and coming toward me

As I was approaching the sitting ducks all I could hear was their beaks smacking in the water so I wasn't sure if they would sit tight or not.
Glad you liked the open comps, I had that in mind on this set and the bluebirds were an unexpected treat

Sparrow in the clouds is actually an old soft weathered stump with somewhat of a 'V' shape in it I used to frame this little guy.
Starling and stick, well some things in nature are best left alone

Glad you liked the last one, it never hurts to take the shot as every now and then one looks pretty good like this.

Thanks and thanks again

Karl

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:27 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #13 · Simply feathers......(9)

Martin Good wrote:
Hi Karl,
Good to see you out diversifying when the flora is all but tucked up in bed for the winter.
1 The fly by catches the light nicely for you
2 Nice bit of wing blur
3 Guess they were happy to see you and wanted to have a little chat
4-6 Of the bluebirds # 6 is tops and tops too of this set for me. Beautiful bg sets the bird off so well here buddy. You nailed this one!
7 Low flying coulds here all right but doesn't seem to bother the sparrow, very nice!
8 Beautiful Starling. Love the colors in these guys when the light catches them. My second pick!
9 Very nice looking duck and lovely pose but that big stick in the right forground is a spoiler, pity.
A very enjoyable set Karl and the winter will test the flora guys patience most I think.
Martin

1 thanks
2 nice bit (extreme you mean) wing blur

3 lucky I speak 'quack'

4-6 thanks Martin, the subject sure helps make these shots, thanks on the BG
7 sometimes oof whites can be OK

dead tree stump with a 'V' notch forms the clousds
8 I watched some baby starlings from this spot early this spring, they are noisy and interesting

9 I like sticks, usually they have flowers on the end of them

Thanks much buddy
Karl

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:33 PM

danjacquitaylo
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p.1 #14 · Simply feathers......(9)

Here are my nits on these KarlA:

1.

You froze the wings at 1/1000s

...unless the quack was 'kiting'

Mine would have come out a blurry blob

2. Nice light, lovely BG and wing blurr...just heading the wrong way

That male dude was saying hi to you??
4. Nice vertical comp but the pose is too straight on...losing the beak
5. This one is nice but i think vertical crop might work better(plenty of room for it)...and you can lose the bigger branches on the right in the Bg at the same time.

....The dude seems mad

7. Really nice beautiful colors and details for such a little one.....Not sure about the clouds though

8. Very nice colors and details of the bird and in nice, different setting.
9. This one just jump out of my monitor

.

ALL are just very clean, crispy images w/ excellent exposures and tasty comps. There you go. Like it or not...I don't care

. My most extensive C&C since I joined this forum. I am so tired...I need a nap now

Danno

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:48 PM

Duane N
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p.1 #15 · Simply feathers......(9)

5,6 and 9 for me.

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:58 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #16 · Simply feathers......(9)

Desert Drake wrote:
Oh, Karl, those are great. You need to tell me where he is hiding!

#3, #5, and #6 are fantastic.
Nice captures.
Al

Thanks Al. The one hiding was actually sitting closer to me where the group together is, I was concentrating on the ones I was hearing and got surprised by this one jumping out! Thanks for the kind words and your picks buddy

Karl

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:09 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #17 · Simply feathers......(9)

David Israel wrote:
Karl, you surely must be happy with these shots. I also have to agree that the 300 f/4 IS is a fantastic lens and can produce some very sharp and detailed results (as evidenced by these fine feathery shots).

#'s 1, 6 and 9 are outstanding! In fact, when I saw the first shot my first thought was "wow, that's a great shot!"

I took the day off on Tuesday to go to a NWR about 90 minutes away. It rained the entire day, but I did come away with a nice White Pelican and a Jevenile Bald Eagle eating lunch. Like yourself, I hadn't been birding in quite a while and was suffering some serious withdrawal. You know what I'm talking about. I figure I should have the images processed and ready for posting by 2011.

Nice to see your fine feathered work up here again. BTW, that Starling has some great colors.

Dave

Thanks for the kind words Dave, glad you got a breather from your busy scedule to drop in and most glad to hear you took some time for yourself too

I was pretty luck with the subjects here, all in the confines of a relatively small area. I just parked my butt and waited for the little ones and had the pleasure of observing a maturing Red-headed which I will post later.
Take care and get processing!
Karl

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:12 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #18 · Simply feathers......(9)

Imagemaster wrote:
1, 5, & 6

Tony

Thank you kindly Imagemaster

Karl

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:13 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #19 · Simply feathers......(9)

Mr Zoom wrote:
Outstanding burd florals, Karl-a

Super series that Mr. Z

m enjoyed quite muchly

m

Burd florals, now that is different

I am soooooo glad you quite muchly enjoyed them

Karl-a

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:14 PM

Rob Tillyer
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p.1 #20 · Simply feathers......(9)

Nice job Karl, I love the blue birds.

Rob

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:19 PM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #21 · Simply feathers......(9)

danjacquitaylo wrote:
Here are my nits on these KarlA:

1.

You froze the wings at 1/1000s

...unless the quack was 'kiting'

Mine would have come out a blurry blob

2. Nice light, lovely BG and wing blurr...just heading the wrong way

....The dude seems mad

7. Really nice beautiful colors and details for such a little one.....Not sure about the clouds though

8. Very nice colors and details of the bird and in nice, different setting.
9. This one just jump out of my monitor

.

ALL are just very clean, crispy images w/ excellent exposures and tasty comps. There you go. Like it or not...I don't care

. My most extensive C&C since I joined this forum. I am so tired...I need a nap now

Danno

1 it's a Canon, they do amazing things

and sometimes they glide

2 they always head this way for me!
3 yes, the male dude was upset I was asking for the females phone #

4 you know, I wasn't sure what bugged me a little about that shot, I think I had a few of them, I will look to see if I have one with a beak

5 I like it this way but could also see it in a vertical easily

6 Guys don't like to pose
7 don't worry, they are not really clouds

8 thanks and I have few more of those for later
9 cool to hear, got the right light and exposure!

There you go, those are my comments, like them or not, I too really don't care

Nice nitting Danno, you are on the team, now I just need to show you how to shoot florals

KarlA

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:22 PM

tfoltz
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p.1 #22 · Simply feathers......(9)

Karl,
You were not kidding when you said sharp... I damn near poked my eye out

I really love the feel and comp. in #5 and that Starling has to be the prettiest one I've seen.
Great job on all of these buddy.

Tim

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:22 PM

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p.1 #23 · Simply feathers......(9)

Oh Mommy, the joy of no blech!!

Karl, you've added some fine color to an otherwise dreary day. #'s 5 and 8 are just gr8

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:42 PM

Lil Judd
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p.1 #24 · Simply feathers......(9)

Lovely set Karl,

my favorites are the Bluebirds.

Lil

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:59 PM

HOWARD KEARLEY
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p.1 #25 · Simply feathers......(9)

sweet set,
Great to hear those ducks laugh!
Bluebirds great with 5 & 6 being my favs.

Howard.

Nov 19, 2009 at 11:00 PM


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