Long Tailed Duck Take off

[Sid Garige]

D300 200-400mm vr + 1.7x
1/1200 F6.3
Homer, Alaska

[Doug Brown]

Sharp where it counts. Good look at the long tail. These guys can be tough to expose properly; the whites look a little hot up top.

[Sid Garige]

the whites look a little hot up top.

Doug,
How does this look?

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Sid, wonderful capture! I love shooting these guys on Lake Ontario near Toronto during the winter months. One of my favorite ducks. I am wondering if the white areas around the lower neck/upper breast are a little blue. Well done!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome action here Sid. I like the additional detail you were able to pull out on the head in the repost. I also love the front foot just about to touch the water. I'd probably eliminate the small piece of vegetation (?) fall off under the far foot. Is that some purple fringing along the edge of the black chest?

[Craig Brelsford]

Black and white duck, so not an easy bird to expose, that's for sure. I find the angle a bit high; I have no idea whether a lower angle was possible in your case. I'd like to know your ISO; I'm a D300 user myself, and I'm wondering whether you could have pushed the ISO a bit higher to get a faster shutter speed. I like some blur in flight shots but feel that in this shot the blur is a bit pronounced.

[Dan Brown]

Black and white duck, so not an easy bird to expose, that's for sure. I find the angle a bit high; I have no idea whether a lower angle was possible in your case. I'd like to know your ISO; I'm a D300 user myself, and I'm wondering whether you could have pushed the ISO a bit higher to get a faster shutter speed. I like some blur in flight shots but feel that in this shot the blur is a bit pronounced.

Beautiful shot Sid! I'd love to have the opportunity! As stated, sharp where it counts. The whites look better in the repost!

[Sid Garige]

Is that some purple fringing along the edge of the black chest?

Daniel,

Went back and looked at original to make sure I did not introduce anything during post processing. I do see it original.

[Sid Garige]

I'm a D300 user myself, and I'm wondering whether you could have pushed the ISO a bit higher to get a faster shutter speed. I like some blur in flight shots but feel that in this shot the blur is a bit pronounced.

Craig,

Shot at ISO 500. I am happy with the amount of blur. Personal taste I guess.

-Sid

[Andrew Merwin]

Hi Sid, wonderful capture! I love shooting these guys on Lake Ontario near Toronto during the winter months. One of my favorite ducks. I am wondering if the white areas around the lower neck/upper breast are a little blue. Well done!

I also see the blue. I suspect that it is the water reflecting color on the bird. I like action & the sharpness of the eye & head.

[Ken Watkins]

Sid,

Beautiful bird and great action, I like the head on the OP apart from the top part, the repost has corrected the top but IMHO lesened the impact of the eye/beak.

Does anybody know what causes the blue "fringing"? Artie pointed this problem in one of my recent posts.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Excellent pose, and I agree on the detail on top of the head. Nice calm water you had there! Cool shot

[denise ippolito]

Beautiful pose Sid, These are the most fun to watch and photograph of all the winter ducks we have here. I love their barking call and the way their tail curls up. Nice job w/ the exposure and the re post is great!