Mandarin Ducks Taking Off

[Asif Khan]

A pair of wild mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) taking off at Yuanyang Lake in China. This was shot from a boat.
Following are the details:
Nikon D3S
Nikon 600mm f/4 with 1.7xTc (effective 1000mm)
Aperture Priority
f/9.0, 1/2000 sec
ISO 4000
Crop, Exposure and Contrast adjustment in Lightroom


Comments/feedback welcome.

Cheers

[Joe Senzatimore]

Great action captured. Might need a bit of CC rotation. Nice and clean for 4000 ISO and a 1.7 converter.

[Asif Khan]

Hi Joe, Thanks much for your feedback. Indeed, with D3S , Nikon has done a great job on ISO. Have been able to get good shots upto 4000 ISO, okay upto 6200 ..but than it starts becoming grainy from my view point. Am sorry, can you pls let me know what "CC" is ? I am new so dont know all the abbreviations. I checked up the Eduction Forums abbreviation thread, but couldnt find CC there. Thanks much.
Cheers

[Daniel Cadieux]

What Joe meant is CW rotation, which means "Clockwise rotation". I agree with him. I also wish the ducks were taking off towards you rather than away from you, and I find the longer bright horizontal lines a bit of a distraction.

Good timing on your part, and I like the splashing action you managed to capture!:)

[kenn threed]

Erm... I believe Joe and Daniel both meant Counter-Clockwise rotation (CCW), no?
I suppose it depends on whether you're turning the camera or the image, but sure the image would have a more level horizon if turned a bit CCW.

And yes, very impressive ISO4000 quality Asif... have you used any noise reduction on this at all?

Kenn