Just a few of Mallard Ducklings taken today during my lunch break. Ok, these aren't necessarily rare burds or that (baby) cute. Weather was sunny/overcast/cloudy. Lighting could have been much harsher. These were taken w/ D300 and 300mm AF-S lens. This lens is amazingly sharp (for those who maybe thinking of buying one ). Very minimal PP done. No BG/FG manipulations w/ blur tool or NR. I barely applied any sharpening before posting. All exifs are intact. Thanks for looking and any C&C.
dan


1 - 3.

4 - 5.

6 - 7.

Dan, besides being cute little fellas, these ducks really pop against the background. I definitely agree that you have a nice sharp lens there. There is some wonderful detail in these images. Nice exposures. Looks like the partly cloudy day worked in your favor, with no harsh lighting to deal with. Rare burds or not, these were a pleasure to view.

Dave

David Israel wrote:
Dan, besides being cute little fellas, these ducks really pop against the background. I definitely agree that you have a nice sharp lens there. There is some wonderful detail in these images. Nice exposures. Looks like the partly cloudy day worked in your favor, with no harsh lighting to deal with. Rare burds or not, these were a pleasure to view.

Dave


Thank you so very much Dave for the nice and long comments. I truely appreciate it.
dan

Every once in a while I get Nikon envy when I view a post. This is one of those times, excellent.

reko wrote:
Every once in a while I get Nikon envy when I view a post. This is one of those times, excellent.

Thank you very much Robert for the compliments. It'll be very tough for Chad to say the same thing .
dan

Very nice Dan! #7 is my fav.

Conrad Tan wrote:
Very nice Dan! #7 is my fav.

Thank you much Conrad man. When are you planning to visit Moss Landing or Elkhorn?
dan

Oh Danno, is that a sales pitch for Nikon or just that you may be selling that lens Not sure what minimal PP means but the end result is excellent. I think you must have nailed the exposures on these buddy. The soft blue and neutral toned BG's look really great with this subject. Cute and down low makes this great images. I am they got very close to you judging by the limite DOF at that f/stop and focal lenght lens, yepper, these are sweet!

KarlA

Dan all the abo ve and great low shooting angles too!!

Ted

That is some great shots very nice

I second Ted about the angle Dan! Well done. They are all nicely done, sharp, nice colors, what more could you want

Tim

Dan, you know how I feel.... so sweet!

You did a great job with these

Dan

looks like you're having better weather than I am. Sooooooo gloomy down here.

Looks like you had fun with the fussies

My top picks are # 1, 4, & 7

And yes - it is a sharp lens.

Lil

Beautiful series, very well done. I love the low angle approach. Did you have to get your shirt dirty for that?

Dan, these look way over-processed! However you did a great job blurring the bg. I can hardly tell Details are good. Next time though try to apply less sharpening, as they look a tad over sharpened.
Okay enough of that, I just had to do it.
Great job! These are really sweet images, all well taken. Great angle, correctly exposed and with fine detail. One suggestion: try to lighten the eyes a bit, it will make the subject more appealing (and alive) Enjoyed the set!
Socrate

Dan,

I know that lens very well. It's a sharp shooter and it shows in all images. ;thumb:

Hide

These are great photos Dan. I see you got down nice and low for them.

Morris

Karl Witt wrote:
Oh Danno, is that a sales pitch for Nikon or just that you may be selling that lens Not sure what minimal PP means but the end result is excellent. I think you must have nailed the exposures on these buddy. The soft blue and neutral toned BG's look really great with this subject. Cute and down low makes this great images. I am they got very close to you judging by the limite DOF at that f/stop and focal lenght lens, yepper, these are sweet!

KarlA

Hi KarlA,
It's my sales pitch for Chad to convert . Minimal PP means literally spending about couple minutes of mainly very slight level adjust, cropped/resized, then applied very small amount of sharpening (3-6 out of range 0-100) before posting in Nikon NX2. I was close to them, therefore sholoow DOF

Thank you very much KarlA for the nice, long, detailed comments.
Danno