Just Another Duck: I couldn't resist this. After following the recent thread on Nightski's duck, I thought that I would add my "snapshot" for review. The particulars: Canon 6D, 70-200...

jteee Loc: Montana

I couldn't resist this. After following the recent thread on Nightski's duck, I thought that I would add my "snapshot" for review. The particulars:
Canon 6D, 70-200 f2.8 @200, 1/500, ISO 100, f4.0
Unfortunately, after sneaking up on these guys, I misjudged where they landed, and they jumped toward the sun rather than away from it. That being said, general critique. Is the background too busy, ducks too distant, shadow too deep, all of the above, etc.
Shot in raw with the basic PP in LR5. I did already reduce the shadow about as much as I dare.

(Download)

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

jteee wrote:

I couldn't resist this. After following the recen... (show quote)

Hey, jtee,
yes, the BG is incredibly and distractively BUSY, and the ducks don't "Pop"and this image will score generally low, but I am so glad to see wood ducks against a BG of WOODS !!!
How about a little more info. re: how did you get that apparently high perspective?
Also, inadvertent as composition in many wildlife "active shots" often is, your two woodies are nicely on the diagonalof yhe frame. And that male has his "in focus" parts so for a quick grab this should please you. was this frame one of several in a burst exposure?

Impact: 2.5
Technical: 2.5
Composition 3.5
Total: 8.5/15

I hope we'll more wildlife effoerts! As a native New Yorker I do clearly recall you posted a good image of the new WTC some time back.

Keep 'em coming!

Dave in SD

jteee Loc: Montana

Uuglypher wrote:

Hey, jtee, br yes, the BG is incredibly and distra... (show quote)

Thanks for your review, much appreciated. Yes this was a burst, but I'm really inexperienced at this sort of thing, and this was my first shot. All the others were out of focus. I was set at AI Servo, but I don't know what I did wrong yet (I guess I will just have to go out more to figure it out, LOL). I was actually hoping to get the first shot even lower, but they had moved in the ditch I saw them land in, and they caught me off guard when they jumped. They were down in a really little ditch, and I was sneaking up the back side of a small dike which gave me the heighth.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

jteee wrote:

Thanks for your review, much appreciated. Yes thi... (show quote)

AIServo....is that continuous AutoFocus?
AF is easily confounded by the twigs and branches in front and behind your intended subject in woodland situations, and I am most often driven to manual focus. Luckily, my camera offers "focus peaking" of which I have become a real fan!
In the situation you describe I will try to rely on:
1.) manual focus at an expected place through which the expected action is expected to move,
2.) a moderately fast shutter ( hand-held rule based on lens focal length),
3.) and burst exposure ( you need to practice beforehand to know how long the " burst" lasts so you know how soon before the magic moment you need to start the burst.

For an animal sitting still in the woods, using MF and the "through focus series" provided by an exposure burst can often result in one tack-sharp image out of your series.

best wishes and good luck,
Dave in SD

Nightski

Well, Jtee, your "snapshot" is much better than mine! Wow! Nice focus on a BIF. Perhaps if the background was darker you would have had better separation, but I think you've got plenty. I personally like to see the ducks natural habitat as a background.

You did this with a 70-200! Don't tell my husband, I'll never get that Sigma 150-500 I've got him convinced I can't do this with my 75-300 f4-5.6. :-)

Heck, I had myself convinced, but now I'm going to get my arse out there and practice some more!

Thank you!!! I'm pumpedcan't wait to try again!

jteee Loc: Montana

Uuglypher wrote:

AIServo....is that continuous AutoFocus? br AF is... (show quote)

Thanks again. AI Servo (by Canon) is for action focusing. What I'm not sure about is when I hit the (for me back button focus) button with the first shot, do I just track the bird with the focus point, or do I have to keep the button pushed (which is what I did, with complete failure for the following shots). I agree with you, for most of my wildlife stuff I have had much better results with MF. I knew that this particular deal was going to be quick, and knew that MF was not going to be an option (as it turned out, with the exception of the first click, AF wasn't much of an option either, LOL). Your mentoring is greatly appreciated by us neophytes.

jteee Loc: Montana

Nightski wrote:

Well, Jtee, your "snapshot" is much bett... (show quote)

Hey thanks. I actually took my Sigma 150-500 off for this shot. I wasn't confident that I would get anything in focus in this situation with the big lens. The 70-200 is so much faster and lighter, that given the quickness of woodies, I thought this the better choice.
From what I've seen of your work, the 150-500 would be a tremendous asset. I love mine (although I still struggle with sharpness), it has really improved my reach. The approach is this (since the 70-200 is about $2500, f2.8 with IS, tell your husband that you are doing him a favor by ONLY wanting the Sigma 150-500 at $1000). Ya have to work all the angles for this photography thing.

Nightski

He wants me to wait and save for the better glass after I explained the differences in the lenses to him. :-(

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

Nightski wrote:

He wants me to wait and save for the better glass after I explained the differences in the lenses to him. :-(

You could speed up your saving by cutting down on his food :lol:

Nightski

Graham Smith wrote:

You could speed up your saving by cutting down on his food :lol:

Okay, you're definitely going to be banned to chit chat now, bucko.. :roll:

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I like the fact that they're flying into the sun, because you got really good light on their "faces." The background is busy, and does make it difficult to distinguish all of the details of the ducks. I like the composition (placement of the birds in the frame). For a catch, that's really good! If I had been shooting this, I would have had to upped the ISO a LOT. I'm wondering if you had, could you have shot at 1000 and perhaps gotten better wing coverage? Just asking. . . .

jteee Loc: Montana

AzPicLady wrote:

I like the fact that they're flying into the sun, because you got really good light on their "faces." The background is busy, and does make it difficult to distinguish all of the details of the ducks. I like the composition (placement of the birds in the frame). For a catch, that's really good! If I had been shooting this, I would have had to upped the ISO a LOT. I'm wondering if you had, could you have shot at 1000 and perhaps gotten better wing coverage? Just asking. . . .

Thanks for your comments. Yes, in retrospect I wish I had upped the ISO to 400, which would have given me about 1000.