I’ll admit to often ignoring Northern Shovelers while they’re on the water but I enjoy the challenge of photographing them in flight.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, wingtip of another bird removed, not baited, set up or called in
Shovelers are the predominant duck species along the causeway to Antelope Island (right now a few Long-tailed Ducks in the area are causing a lot of excitement among birders) and two days ago I spent a few minutes photographing them as they came in to land near the western bridge. The biggest problem was keeping focus locked on to the duck because I was looking down on the surface of the water which had texture because of a breeze so my focus points kept grabbing the water surface instead of the bird. I got about a dozen shots of this male coming in but this was the only one where the bird was truly sharp. Sure got a lot of sharp shots of water though…
Luckily it was also the image where I liked the flight pose of the bird best. The swept-back wing position really appeals to me and I also like the 45 degree angle of the body, the good eye contact, the position of that pinkish right foot and the 3-dimensional qualities of the image.
Yesterday I was finally able to get caught up on my image culling and it was a painful process indeed. Out of over 1800 photos taken over three days I kept only 74 images and many of those were marginal. This shoveler photo was one of the very few in the bunch that I liked well enough to serve as a stand-alone image.
I’m sure glad I’m not still shooting film.
Ron
That bird looks as uncoordinated in flight as it does on the water. I will never forget the first time I saw one – at the Assateague National Wildlife Refuge, in the early 90s. I was surprised it could keep its head out of the water. This one looks like it’s beak will drag it down into the water…
“That bird looks as uncoordinated in flight”
You’re pretty much right about that, at least during the landing process, Susan. At 10 frames/sec I get to see a lot of the details of their landing dynamics and they’re right on the edge of being out of control just before they hit the water. I think it’s at least partly because they’re very near stall speed. I keep waiting for one to go a** over teacups when they first hit the water. That would be a fun series.
Thanks for a good chuckle, Ron. I’m glad to know that it’s not just my imagination that they’re a little clumsy;
Maybe they are related to the Gooney Bird lol. Beautiful Duck though.
You always make me anxious when you talk about “culling”….i guess I don’t completely trust you not to zap something I might really like, especially since you’re so much fussier than I am about your images….I really like this birds coloring…the deep sienna, dark browns and bright orangey red legs……The water patterns are interesting, too.
Be careful about what you say Patty or I’ll start sending all of my images to you for culling! I took 497 more images this morning so being caught up sure didn’t last long…
I’m with Patty. As usual. I would love a trawl though your culled pile. And suspect I would happily uncull a lot of them.
I suspect I get more garbage shots than you might think, EC. I do throw some very nice ones away but it’s usually because they’re almost exactly the same as others that I’ve saved. When you’re shooting at 10 frames/sec that happens a lot.
Lovely shot, Ron. I love watching ducks of all kinds coming in to roost on creeks, rivers, waters overall. At sunset, they’re all coming in from everywhere and what a sight! And oh how I hear the pain of culling. I have to do it with words, but it’s just as painful a process.
Laura, culling anything is a pain when a, there are a lot of them (whatever they are) to go through and b. they’re part of your own creative process. I believe you do it with the words of other people and if so that might be even more painful in some ways.
Good one! 🙂 I know about the water causing problems for auto focus – Belt Creek runs right by the house and………. 🙂 Culling photos is NOT fun.
“Culling photos is NOT fun.”
No, it sure isn’t, Judy. It’s the thing about bird photography that I like least.
For some reason I look at a few of your images and wonder how I would make a carving from the photograph. This one, the flying pose is great, but I’m not sure how I would engineer it, maybe a female on the water below this male? But, still how would I support him? No need to answer – just posing!!
Great shot Ron!
I think it would be an interesting pose for a carving too, Dick, but I see what you mean about supporting the bird.
Reeds and a plexi or fine steel connector hidden in a bent one?
I have to respond Patty. How about this fellow coming down behind a female. The female’s feet are just hitting the water and her right wing is against the left side of the male coming behind her. So the water base is attached to the two ducks by a fine steel or brass rod going through the wing of the female to the body of the male. Just a thought!
I like the idea of Reeds, but i would want the viewer to feel that the male is suspended as it is coming down into the water. Oh well!
Oh, boy! That is a GREAT idea! Now you’re stuck with it…you’re going to see, tweak and refine it until you finally do it ….until then, you’re going to suffer, Boy!!!! When i used tio do silver work or carving, an idea like that would literally haunt me, plague me, badger me, obsess me, nag me, until I finally did something with it…now only paintings do this to me. I still get nagged by silver working ideas, but am better able to shake them off ,but still…….
Yes, you are right – it is a nag! The trouble is since I’ve been retired I feel that I’m more busy now than I was when I was working.
Well, its in the drawing stage, and I’ve gone from full body size to miniature, so we will see if I or when I take a block of wood and start constructing.
Great image. I am pretty sure those focus points had a very difficult task to catch the duck.
And that look is so intense. I bet he is thinking “OH, OH, I hope that huge thing is not a gun…
About the culling stuff you never told me what you think about “Fast Raw Viewer”. Is it useful?
Thanks, Jorge. Actually I think this guy was more concerned about finding a clear spot to “land” than he was about my lens. There was a LOT of ducks on the water. But you’re right – we’re in the midst of duck hunting season and you never know what he was thinking…
To be perfectly honest, with everything going on in my life right now I’ve never actually tried to use FRV. I hope to give it a try once things settle down a little but that may be a while…
I never tried FRV either, but with so many positive reviews I was curious to know your opinion.