Northern Pintail "Making the Most of Bad Light"

[James Salywoda]

Northern Pintail
Southern California

Shooting conditions are not always optimum but we have to make the best of the situation at hand although I would of preferred the wings fully down I liked the blur as it shows the power at which this duck was flying these are such elegant looking ducks.

Nikon D300s AFS 600 F4 1.4 TC
1/1000 F7.1 ISO 800

Thanks For Looking

Jim

[Jim Buescher]

I don't think there is such a thing as "bad light" when it comes to your waterfowl flight images. You're right, the long curved tail and neck along with the coloring make these very elegant birds and you've captured it very well.

[Doug Brown]

Pintails are such graceful ducks, and you've captured that grace nicely Jim. I don't mind the wing blur at all. We all know what you can do with good light and a fast shutter speed. I do like the high-key BG.

[Mital Patel]

too good of a shot. superb freeze in such a bright bg.

[Charles Scheffold]

The focus and sharpness are dead on, and the bird really stands out against the background. Just enough blur on the wings to let us know that he was really moving! I think the only improvement I could suggest would be a better overall angle because he does seem to be angled slightly away from the camera, but I don't think you could really control that.

Overall nice capture!

Charles

[Bill Dix]

Nicely captured, Jim. I don't mind the blur; as you say, it shows movement. The head and pintail are sharp, and I like the colors you captured in the wing.

[Kiran Poonacha]

I love the blur a lot too bhai.... any tips on shooting ducks in flight would love to learn.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Another rocking images, James. Bird perfectly parallel and amazing sharpness. You are one of the best.

[Harshad Barve]

Killer image and blurred wings adding here
TFS

[Joerg Rockenberger]

I think the blurred wing tips add to the picture. Sharpness and exposure is great. I wish you had captured the duck a few milliseconds before as it just seems to be flying away from you already.

JR

[Jeroen Stel]

Superb Pintail shot! Ohh....how i dream of making a shot of a Pintail like this....:o
Have done many flight shots of Ducks but the Pintail just eluded me so far..

Well done!

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

[Stu Bowie]

James, sharp where it counts, and you have nailed another in flight image. I like the interesting markings and colours.

[James Salywoda]

I appreciate the comments everyone. Thanks!

[Pieter de Waal]

Beautifully exposed image James, you allways manage such great detail in these images. Enjoy the blurred wing tips in this one and especialy like how you have captured the curved pintail and adjoining feathers.