Hi, Took a trip out to Sweetwater in the NW part of Tucson and photographed
many birds, numerous ducks, a beautiful White Heron I couldn't get a clear
shot at, and others. I like this photo particularly because the shovel beak
is clearly shown, I know the whites are blown, tried -0.7 EV, though I feel
I should have came out at 7:00 AM when they open instead of 11:00 AM when
the Arizona sun is becoming it's brightest. Am I being petty, when I say I
looked at a top photographers prints for sale, and found most of his whites
blown in Duck prints for sale. I liked them and would have bought them for
their artistic value . . . I photographed this Shoveler with a Olympus
E-510 IS-1, with Zuiko 70-300mm (140-600 equiv) 1:4-5.6 ED, Aperture
Priority, F 6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 400, 600mm, hand held, 0.7 EV, and auto WB.
Please excuse me for being windy. . . Gus
Gus I would not call photographers selling Shovelers with blown highlights top photographers Just my opinion
At the time your image was made a -2/3 comp is not enough Probably a full stop would have giving you blinking alerts Solution is for softer light and you will get results Even then it is not an easy duck to photograph
For this particular image going low would have made a difference Often times I will use the 600 on a ground pod I don like the head angle and beautiful water Make crop just a tad from top and bottom for proportion !!!!
Hi Al, Thanks for looking and suggestions. Scrolled photo down untill top and bottom were about even & I think it looks better. This location is surrounded with bull rushes, and requires getting above them to see birds. Will increase the EV if I go out in that light again, plan for 7:AM when they open on my next trip. Appreciate your sound advise . . . Gus
Hey Gus,
you have the technical stuff well in hand, or at least you are understanding what needs to be done next time. Now I'd say pay a little closer attention to the reflections too if you can. The eye is a little too distorted for my tastes, so you might be able to watch the ripples and trip the shutter when the eye is a little rounder... Or shoot a few frames at once to increase the chance of getting a good reflection.
You probably already know they will be cutting down more of the vegetation around half the ponds at Sweetwater this month
and the remaining ones at a future date (next winter?). One possibility to not have the obstructing plants in the way now is to shoot from the decks on the site and sit on the deck or even lay down on your belly. I'm 44 and it takes some effort to get back up due to back issues, but this allows me to get lower angle shots at Sweetwater. You might be more spritely and less stiff than I am so this might not be an issue. If you're as stiff or more so, a small folding camping chair would let you be comfortable and get a lower perspective than standing up.
Northern Shovler at Sweetwater, Tucson, AZ
