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All Aboard!
Another scene from the "technically not perfect, but cute" book of bird photography. Bigger version on flickr, as usual.
I was always quite amazed at how merganser moms take their ducklings for a ride on their back. This one with ten ducklings overall, four of them on her back, is no exception.
Camera 7D Mark II with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and Canon Extender 1.4x III.
Settings:
f/9 (maximum with this combo is f/8, I found f/9 to be a bit sharper though)
560mm (max)
1/800s (okay for hand holding with a normal stance, and with the birds not moving too quickly)
ISO 640
Post processing in Lightroom CC, toning down the highlights and raising the shadows a bit.
Even with the TC, these guys were quite far away. Since they were spread out a bit, there wasn't much room to the left or right, but a lot above and below. Taking a suggestion from my wife, I went with a 3:1, very panoramic crop, leaving me with 7MP of the original 20.
Things I would have liked: lower perspective (would have been possible with falling into the lake), being closer to the subject (the mother was very cautious), more sharpness.
I hope some of you like the photo, comments and critique appreciated as always of course.
Kind regards,
Robert
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How cute is that Robert! I always worry about getting too close to mums and babies. They have enough to worry about without adding a photographer falling into the lake.
You have such a big crop and the IQ has suffered a bit. I would consider lightening their eye strips/shadows a little. The very pano crop is not quite working for me though. Maybe more room on the bottom. There is some lovely, greenish water there as well, that I would be trying to make the most of. Maybe a magenta or red? cast creeping in?
Thanks for sharing.
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Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
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Glennie, thank you very much for your comment.
This mom and her babies actually had the "worst" already behind them, in the form of my wife…they had appeared right in front of her, not two metres away, from below some grass at the lake shore. Busy feeding, they initially did not even notice her, while Anja was just frozen to avoid any disturbance. Of course, when the mother finally noticed her, she and her ducklings made quite a run for it (the ducklings are already very good swimmers)!
When I came to this scene, they were far enough to feel safe again and all wanted to rest on their mother's back. 
Still, I made sure to avoid falling into the lake, for their benefit and mine. 
Regarding the IQ, I was honestly not happy with it from the start, and was initially quite hesitant to post it here. However, after getting some good feedback on flickr and from friends, I decided to share this cute scene, since I guess many people may have never seen such a thing - there are quite a lot of mergansers in our area, but overall, at least in Germany, they are rare.
Of course, I can appreciate that not everyone might like such an extreme crop, 3:1 is really something I rarely use.
I have done a 16:9 as well now, which may be a bit more pleasing to the eye? Also tried to lighten the eye strips a little as you suggested.
Regarding the magenta or red, I can honestly say I am not seeing that… In post, I merely added a bit of orange saturation, to bring out the colourful feathers a bit more.
Last edited by Robert Kattanek; 05-23-2016 at 04:30 AM.
Reason: Edited Flickr upload
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Oh. My. God. This is beyond cute! Are they all hers is is this a daycare situation? (I once saw an ostrich in Africa that was herding at least two dozen youngsters.)
The pano crop feels tight top and bottom. I find the 16:9 more relaxed but might take a little off the top. I'dlook at a little more lightening of the Shadows slider. but all in all a very nice image! The interest makes up for any loss of IQ.
Your shooting specs and equipment look great.
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Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
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Diane, they are indeed all hers! There was another merganser mom nearby with eleven ducklings, from what I read, 8-12 is normal for them.
Last year we had a mallard duck with 16 ducklings, 15 of which successfully grew up. Nature can be quite amazing, and very demanding on parenting animals (especially the mothers, it seems).
It really seems the interesting subject here makes up for all the things I would have liked to be better from a technical POV. I also think I got lucky with the pose and look of the first two ducklings on her back.
I uploaded the pano crop to 500px yesterday (with the lightening suggested by Glennie), and the "Likes" basically exploded. Never had such a reaction there.
I think few people have ever seen such a scene, or even imagined it? Not even sure how many other birds carry their young on their backs so regularly.
Regarding your suggestions, I have edited the 16:9 a bit, slightly different crop and some more lightening. The edits are visible now in my post above.
Overall, I am very happy with the emotions this shot creates, and that I could catch such a scene in a photo. The goal for next spring will be to find a similar scene, and catch it from closer range with better IQ, which will mostly mean a lot of patience, waiting and letting the mother and ducklings get more accustomed to me. These birds are quite cautious, but still used to a lot of human activity in this area, so there should be a chance to do that without disturbing them.
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Very nice. But put a modified image in a new reply -- if you modify an earlier one the comments about it no longer make sense. Seeing the progressive stages of an image is a great learning experience for everyone.
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Originally Posted by
Diane Miller
Very nice. But put a modified image in a new reply -- if you modify an earlier one the comments about it no longer make sense. Seeing the progressive stages of an image is a great learning experience for everyone.
I will, sorry, had not thought about that.
