Family Matters

Duckling and Mom

During a recent visit to the local park I saw these yellow ducklings close to their mother. Needless to say that I had to take a good number of photo's of these cute little fellows. At first I brought the Nikon 80-400VR, but later that day I returned with the Tamron 180mm macro because this lens is faster aperture-wise and much sharper wide open. On top of that 180mm proved to be enough for these shots too.

Photos by Frank Panis

Shooting data:

Camera: Nikon D70

Photo 1
Lens:  Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Shutter speed  - 1/2000sec @ f/3.5
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Flash : None

Photo 2
Lens:  Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1 
Shutter speed  - 1/1600sec @ f/3.5
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Flash : None

Photo 3
Lens: TamronSP AF 180mm F/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Shutter speed  - 1/500sec @ f/3.5
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Flash : None
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture editor, sharpening none, USM, WB adjusted, Cropped, resized and saved.

Taking the family for a swim

I saw this duck family before they entered the water so I immediately changed to a zoom lens and waited to see if the two adults and the four babies would form an interesting picture. I shot ten pictures but I already knew that I had the two pictures that I liked most. My idea was to show the "family" interaction of these ducks. In the first photo you get the impression that the two adults are discussing what to do next while the babies are just playing with each other. Seconds later, it looks as if they made up their minds and they are heading somewhere. I know that, in all probability, nothing like that ever crossed their minds but in some cases I like to "apply" human emotions and reactions to animals. Fill in flash was used to eliminate shaded areas on the ducks since the sun was on the other side ! One particular thing I liked was the white band on the head of the ducklings which looks as if they are wearing a hat.

Photo by George J. Reclos

Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor AF 80-200 mm f/2.8 ED D @ 200 mm.
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/250 sec - f/8, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.
Photos taken at the Attica Zoological Park.

 Gosling (unidentified species)
 
Normally you would expect bird youngs to be born in spring, and I indeed took pictures of a duckling in May, but I was amazed to see this yellow fluffy gosling swimming in November. Maybe it was left behind at the pond together with it's mother, but that would be an irresponsible deed of the previous owner(s) in my opinion with the coming cold temperatures in mind. Anyway there was little more to do than taking pictures of it.
 
Photo by Frank Panis

Shooting Data:
 
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/640 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2