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Nov 27, 2014 22:18:00   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
renomike wrote:
Thanks Gess.... My wife was sick for over a year and a half, so I didn't get out shooting too much. She's doing better, but her arthritis is really getting bad. I just bought her a Canon SX60 to use, as her Canon 7D is to hard and heavy for her to handle, as her hands are getting real deformed. I was really impressed with the new SX60, but takes awhile to get use to something new though. Good to see you back too.

Mike


Thanks for the reply Mike. I'm sorry to hear about your wife having a troubled period and am certainly glad to hear that she is doing better. I sure like that the SX60 has wifi built in so the camera can be remotely controlled with a smartphone or tablet with one finger. Add an inexpensive pan/tilt head to a tripod and need to handle the camera would be greatly reduced. I hope things continue to improve and you continue to get more shooting time in. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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Nov 27, 2014 22:34:26   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
cameranut wrote:
Welcome back gessman. Haven't seen/heard from you in a while. These are superior shots of one of the most beautiful birds alive. Love the male/female in the next to last shot. The first shots with the sx50 prove what can be done in the right hands.


Thank you camernut. It's good to see you too. The SX50 is quite a little camera and a real pleasure to use for sure. I hope you folks have had a nice Thanksgiving and looking forward to Christmas. Happy shooting!

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Nov 27, 2014 23:07:01   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
Travesty wrote:
Very nice shots of a very surreal looking bird...
There is something that bothers me about the last one on the original post, but yet it is the one that draws me in the most..


Thank you. I hear you about that last one. What seems to bother you about it, if you can put your finger on it? I will tell you that the sun had set, I was losing the light, the reflection was very pale blue with very little definition in the water and because of fading light I knew it would be underexposed but shot it anyway and when I brought it up in DPP to where I liked the duck, it took out that little bit of definition and blew the water and the right rear side of the duck out. If it had been shot in jpg I would never been able to save it. It is one of my favorite out of the bunch too but it won't withstand very much magnification for sure. Does that give you some relief from what is bothering you? Please, if you have something else, tell me about it.

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Nov 27, 2014 23:12:18   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
imagemeister wrote:
Gorgeous shots ! Gorgeous water! How did you get so close ( with 200mm ) ??


Thank you sir. Small pond, several were moving around foraging and swam pretty close to me hiding in some shoreline weeds, less than 10 ft. away from me. I was thrilled. Lo these many years and this is the first time I've been able to get that close. Otherwise I just have to attribute it to serendipity.

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Nov 27, 2014 23:15:28   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
cannoneer35 wrote:
They don't get any better than these. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:


Thank you sir. I consider it to have been a mighty lucky day for me.

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Nov 27, 2014 23:28:27   #
renomike Loc: Reno, Nevada
 
gessman wrote:
Thanks for the reply Mike. I'm sorry to hear about your wife having a troubled period and am certainly glad to hear that she is doing better. I sure like that the SX60 has wifi built in so the camera can be remotely controlled with a smartphone or tablet with one finger. Add an inexpensive pan/tilt head to a tripod and need to handle the camera would be greatly reduced. I hope things continue to improve and you continue to get more shooting time in. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Thanks for the reply Mike. I'm sorry to hear abou... (show quote)


Thanks Gess... I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving too. I had way too much turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy....;0) Still full. I hope to see you on more too, and posting more of those great shots of yours.

My Best... Mike

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Nov 27, 2014 23:33:00   #
FrodoBaggins Loc: Texas
 
gessman wrote:
First 3 shot with SX50 - rest were shot with 5D MkII and 70-200L II IS f/2.8...


Very nice set of one of the most photogenic of all the ducks here in USA! And along with the Mandarins, my favorite species.

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Nov 28, 2014 00:00:04   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
FrodoBaggins wrote:
Very nice set of one of the most photogenic of all the ducks here in USA! And along with the Mandarins, my favorite species.


Thank you FrodoBaggins. I appreciate the visit and have to agree about the Mandarin too. I referred to the Harlequin earlier but confused that with the Mandarin, which I must agree are really special. I've yet to see a Mandarin.

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Nov 28, 2014 00:01:17   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
renomike wrote:
Thanks Gess... I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving too. I had way too much turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy....;0) Still full. I hope to see you on more too, and posting more of those great shots of yours.

My Best... Mike


Thanks Mike, and the same back at you. Cheers!

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Nov 28, 2014 00:27:20   #
sailorsmom Loc: Souderton, PA
 
Absolutely stunning, gessman! I love wood ducks and have only seen a male and female once.

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Nov 28, 2014 05:32:54   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
sailorsmom wrote:
Absolutely stunning, gessman! I love wood ducks and have only seen a male and female once.


Thank you kindly sailorsmom. I appreciate your visit and kind words. Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.

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Nov 28, 2014 07:48:07   #
Travesty Loc: Chicago Burbs, USA
 
gessman wrote:
Thank you. I hear you about that last one. What seems to bother you about it, if you can put your finger on it? I will tell you that the sun had set, I was losing the light, the reflection was very pale blue with very little definition in the water and because of fading light I knew it would be underexposed but shot it anyway and when I brought it up in DPP to where I liked the duck, it took out that little bit of definition and blew the water and the right rear side of the duck out. If it had been shot in jpg I would never been able to save it. It is one of my favorite out of the bunch too but it won't withstand very much magnification for sure. Does that give you some relief from what is bothering you? Please, if you have something else, tell me about it.
Thank you. I hear you about that last one. What ... (show quote)


I think you pretty much describe what I am seeing... I still really like it.. The contrast between the colors and the starkness of the blown out areas make it really pop...

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Nov 28, 2014 08:56:58   #
nascar27 Loc: Kansas City, MO
 
Those types of ducks with their contrasting colors make a great subject matter which you took full advantage of. 8-)

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Nov 28, 2014 09:56:25   #
Horseart Loc: Alabama
 
gessman wrote:
Thanks for your help and inspiration. You inspire me to look for beauty every time I open my eyes and look at the world around me. I bet you didn't know that. :shock: :oops: :-D Happy Thanksgiving again to everyone in uhh, to your families, and especially to you and now, it's time for me to get ready to take care of a bird of another sort. :roll:


I never thought of myself as an inspiration to anyone for anything, but if anything I said or did convinced you to put these beauties here, I'm glad. These photos demand respect and are so pleasant to look at!

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Nov 28, 2014 12:25:03   #
gessman Loc: Colorado
 
Travesty wrote:
I think you pretty much describe what I am seeing... I still really like it.. The contrast between the colors and the starkness of the blown out areas make it really pop...


Ordinarily it would have been a goner but when I visualized how it might look a little blown out I began to work it and liked how it came out simply because of how the dark colors contrasted and popped out of the now almost white appearing water and thought it was a keeper. Here is a copy of how it appeared as a jpg converted from Raw without any adjustments in Raw or jpg. Sometimes we get things we don't expect that are appealing. What is that they call that - serendipity? As it turns out with the processing it has received to now, it is probably my favorite out of the bunch. I like things that "pop" generally but don't/can't always achieve that. I may just remember this experience for some future shots on water. All this required was to bring up the exposure and tweak a little contrast and color to bring it up to the one originally posted. A pretty simple save actually. Everything else was there but this is also is a pretty good crop, getting rid of a lot of grey around the duck.


(Download)



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