Northen Shoveler in early morning

[Philippe Collard]

Greetings,

My first post in this section I think.

I saw a lot of these guys this morning, beautiful ducks. This one just landed - hence the bubbles - but I missed the landing shots. Cropped about 50%, wandering if I should get a 500 or not :)

Thanks for your comments and all the best.

http://www.pbase.com/image/96225503.jpg

1D MKII + 400mm f/5.6L + 1.4x
1/1000s @ f/8
ISO 800
Handheld

[Fabs Forns]

Beautiful colors , but a bit oversharpened, more evident on the bubbles. He needs a few degrees for a great head angle. Great exposure control, I'd crop some off the bottom.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Phillipe,
IMO following Fabs crop advice will definitely help this compositionally. As for the 500...........they sure do make bird and animal photography exciting!
Roman

[Arthur Morris]

Agree with the comments above. Everyone should own a 500mm lens! If the wind had been coming from anywhere behind you the bird would have landed towards you... Something to watch for (not that you can do anything about it..)

[Chris Dodds]

Bonjour Phillipe,

Gorgeous image! Others have made some good observations. Yes, get a 500mm (who cares about retirement?).

Salut,

Chris