The day was getting late and I was standing with a group of photographers who had come to Oakland Lake here in New York City to photograph the Silver Wood Duck. Due to the snow and not knowing where the deep snow ended and ice covered water began we were staying back on the path around the lake and this meant higher than desirable angles. There were also bushes blocking some of the views. I had managed to get some of the photos I wanted including ones of the Silver Wood duck with other Wood ducks. When he started to bathe I had a partly obstructed view and knowing he would flap his wings to dry them I hit my quick release to get off the tripod and called out that he would do this. Then I ran about 40 feet to my left just in time to catch the action.
Comments and suggestions welcome,
Morris
1) The center of attention
X-H2SXF500mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR lens500mmf/5.61/8500s1600 ISO-1.7 EV
2) Male Silver Wood duck with Male Wood duck
X-H2SXF500mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR lens500mmf/5.61/9000s1600 ISO-1.3 EV
3) Male Silver Wood duck
X-H2SXF500mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR lens500mmf/5.61/5000s4000 ISO-0.7 EV
4) Male Silver Wood duck bathing
X-H2SXF500mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR lens500mmf/5.61/5000s4000 ISO-0.7 EV
5) Male Silver Wood duck drying wings
X-H2SXF500mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR lens500mmf/5.61/5000s4000 ISO-0.7 EV
Nailed it! Nice follow up work Morris, that last one made the trek worth it no doubt. Surrounded by the "norms" in the first shot almost looks like a heavy vignette, heh.
Erictator wrote:
Nailed it! Nice follow up work Morris, that last one made the trek worth it no doubt. Surrounded by the "norms" in the first shot almost looks like a heavy vignette, heh.
Eric
Thank you Eric,
Nature created the vignette and I was compensating my exposure for the light duck so I brightened the surrounding ducks, they were even darker as captured and I loved the effect of them around the silver wood duck.
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Jim Dockery wrote:
Nice work! Like Eric said you nailed it.
Thank you Jim
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amyandmark3 wrote:
Congrats on this rare catch, Morris! The story and photos are great, love the last one!
Mark
Thank you Mark,
I've now captured most of what I have on my shot list for this unique duck so I'm probably going to show up with more.
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Al Trujillo wrote:
Quite an unusual bird....you did very well in capturing it!
Thank you Al
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Karl Witt wrote:
Really is a standout of coloring in this group. Wonderful exposures and presentation.
Karl
Thank you Karl,
One of my goals for this shoot was to contrast the colors of the other ducks to the silver wood duck.
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louie champan wrote:
Great shots Morris, and you're right what a standout duck.
Thank you Louie,
He has two girlfriends so who knows what they will create
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johnohio wrote:
Now that's cool !! Awesome job Morris !! I love these shots. YGMV
John
Thank you John,
This duck is getting a lot of people's votes
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volhoosier wrote:
really nice pics of an exceptional bird. your good planning and anticipation paid off, morris. thanks for sharing.
Thank you Wendall,
What I've lost in reaction time I've made up for with experience
