Lake Morton Ring Necked flap

This was taken at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Fl after the recent IPT was over. Daniel Cadieux, Roman and I had planned to go to Fort DeSoto, but the reports were poor, so James Shadle had mentioned this spot. I was dubious because it was right downtown, but it turned out to be a very good spot. The color in the water comes from building reflections.

D300 600VR f/5 1/2000s ISO 500 Gitzo/Wimberley flat on ground, right angle finder

Post: CS5 selective sharpening, small curves adjustment, leveling, minor crop

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

That is a perfect picture, Randy. The color in the water gives it something special.

Excellent shot! If anything would leave only one catchlight. Well done for using the right angle finder - got one but found it too difficult to use...:e3

Beautiful background, Randy, I really like the way the color of the water complements the the colors of the bird. Well done.

Great pose Randy. Excellent details.

Love the shot...very nice.

Nice pose and comp Randy. Water color adds to this one. Well done.
TFS
Todd

Excellent image with lotsa details !!

That place was certainly productive...and one I would not hesitate going back to. Too bad my flight was that day as I would have spent the afternoon there too!

Sharp, well exposed, and nice wingflap pose. Love the colours emitted by the building reflections. I'd either crop out or clone out the dark spot middle-bottom edge of the frame, and can't help but feel the image needs a bit of CCW rotation, although it could be just an illusion created by the BG lines.

I didn't even notice you using the angle finder!

Nice and sharp, with great wing flap position, interesting bg colors. Good low angle (guess I'll need to try the right angle viewer). I had the same reaction as Daniel re. the slight CCW rotation.

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Daniel, I did rotate it .75 degree CCW from the original. I had tried using the ruler initially, but that resulted in a number that over rotated it, so settled on this one. I will revisit that. The bird is leaning forward quite a bit, which exacerbates the rotated appearance.

The right angled finder is an interesting device. Yes, you certainly can get a lower prospective, but it is not easy to find the birds when shooting with long effective focal length ( 900 mm in this case) and it is very easy to tilt the camera. A bubble level is essential. The pros are that you don't have to lie flat on the ground in the guano, and it is easier to traverse a wider area left and right of center than when lying down.

I will continue to play with it. It def. got easier the more I used it. I had tried in on the Loonie Too and found it really challenging, but after working with it for an hour or so, I think it is a worthwhile tool!

Cheers

Randy

Randy, this angle works so well, and well timed to capture the wingflap. The colourful BG from the surrounding buildings adds so much to the image- compliments the duck nicely.

Just love the colours in this image. Nice action captured with good detail all round.

Hello, this shot has Randy Stout written all over it.:S3: Sharp, nice detail, great background! Nothing less than I would expect. Great Job.

Gary.

Randy, I like the pose, sharp details and exposure. What I like most is the lovely water color, it compliments the duck nicely.:S3:

Randy said: "James Shadle had mentioned this spot. I was dubious because it was right downtown, but it turned out to be a very good spot."

Come on Randy, have I ever steered you wrong - it was a great spot.

Beautiful subject, sharp, well exposed and well composed. Love the water color.
As Daniel mentioned maybe 1 degree or less of CCW rotation.

IMO you should leave both catchlights in the eye. In this case 2 catchlights are completely natural.
One from the sun, one from the sun's reflection in the water. Cloning one out, now that's unnatural:S3:.

Beautiful wing flap Randy I love your low angle and the pose is perfect.

I see you got it too Randy!!! I knew that narrow window of color would come in handy! Even though there were plenty of ducks......it was pretty tough with the working angle so you did very well!

I did go back in the afternoon after you 2 left.....it was even crazier with the feeding and I didn't take one image as the clouds rolled in.

Killer image Randy
TFS