Northern Shoveler Shoveling

[Ed Kelley]

This is my first official photo posting! (Be gentle with me. :))

Found a group of 5 males and one female at our local lake last Sunday evening. Low light, no flash, ISO 400, Pentax K10d, Sigma 50-500. I got quite a few decent shots, but I think this is my favorite because he seems to be looking directly at the camera. Jpeg compression may make it look a bit oversharpened. Otherwise, have at it.
Ed Kelley

[Arthur Morris]

Welcome. You did well to get close to a typically shy species. I love the bill underwater bit but wish that the head were turned a bit more towards you. It would seem that the image was well underexposed and then lightened as the head and the base of the bill look noisy/muddy. Same for the dark part of the tail. Lastly, the bird needs more room in the frame (this should be easy to avoid with a zoom lens...) Hope that I was gentle enough...

[Ed Kelley]

Thank you Artie. You are correct about the underexposure. However, the problem seems to be more about the head, as I went back to the original and found that the rest of the photo was not far off. I realize that a flash would have been ideal in this situation, but I did not have one with me, so I had to make the best of it. How would you meter in this situation? The sun had actually gone down far enough to leave this section of the lake in shadow. Since I revisited the original, I also realize I got a little carried away in making it "pop." Here is my revised version--can't take the shot over, but I did the best I could in photoshop. Don't think I can do anything about the head turn--maybe next time!

I'm here to learn, thanks again.
Ed

[Randy Stout]

Ed:

I agree with Artie about getting this close. The only time I can get decent size images of the Shovelers with 600mm is when the ice is in and they have to be in close to the small open area where I shoot in the winter. When the ice goes out, I won't seem them till next year.
.

I love the way a bunch will get togethor in a scrum and shovel away.

You will find that we are very particular about head angle. It does add a lot to the photo. Sometimes you get it sometimes you don't but it is something to shoot for. After you have worked a particular bird, you can get a better feel for his pattern and may be able to capture him in a better head position.

Keep the Shovelers coming!

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Better, not as garish. A bad head angle is fatal but only 100% of the time... As for exposure, you need to learn to expose to the right, that is, to get data in the 5th box without having over-exposed pixels, that is with no data pegged against the right-hand axis of the histogram and with no flashing highlights. Best was to learn: study the section on histograms and Exposure Simplified in my CD book, ABP II. Details on the web site. Best of luck, or else study...

[Ed Kelley]

Artie...I DO have your book and it is excellent and beautiful, but haven't had time to work my way totally through it. I'll study and learn by mistakes and successes and this forum and hope to have a lot of luck in the meantime.

Ed

[Arthur Morris]

Glad that you have the CD; working hard on the histogram and EXP sections will help you improve by light years...