Portraits of Ducks
Portraits of Ducks
Written by Friday, 22 November 2002 00:00
Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” Aaron Siskind
|
|
Aix sponsa (Family: Anatidae) I had noticed this particular duck a long time ago but taking a good photo of it proved to be a real problem. Firstly, because of its overall dark coloration, secondly because it insisted in staying under dense foliage (the darker the better) and thirdly, because it would always keep a distance from me. Under those circumstances, the use of the flash was not possible since I needed a moderate aperture so the range was not enough. The lens was an 180 mm (equivalent to 270 mm for film cameras) so the speed had to be 1/250 or over (if you use the D2X you have to go even higher). Changing the ISO setting to 400 would (perhaps) solve the problem but I wanted to get maximum detail and sharpness with minimum grain. I had already taken (and deleted) more than 30 photos of this duck during my many visits there when I saw it sitting in the open space (being cooperative just for once). Yes, there was a tree next to it, but this was nothing compared to its usual hiding place. I almost crawled towards it and when I reached a distance of 2 meters I took the first shot. I was almost sure that the flash light would frighten it and would run for shelter so I presumed I had only one shot. You can imagine my surprise when the duck decided to sit down and give me the opportunity for more shots. Needless to say, I have a nice collection of photos like these now. Shooting Data: Camera: Nikon D2X |
|
|
Tadorna ferruginea (Family: Anatidae; common name: Ruddy Shelduck) This duck has just got out of the water and the very first thing to do is to take care of its feathers. I wanted to capture the small droplets on its body which are naturally "repelled" by the bird's feathers to keep its body dry. Shooting Data: Camera: Nikon D2X |
|
|
Aix galericulata (also: Dendronessa galericulata; Family: Anatidae; common name: Mandarin duck) Shooting Data: Camera: Nikon D2X |
|
|
Tadorna tadornoides (common name: Australian shelduck) A duck is stretching its wings and waves them frantically to remove
water from them. In order to freeze them you need a really high shutter
speed. If your ISO setting is 100 for maximum detail this means using
your lens wide open. In my experience very few lenses could deliver
this kind of detail while wide open and the Tamron was one of them. Camera: Nikon D2X |
|
|
Australian shelduck II If I were to name the easiest bird to shoot with a camera, ducks would be my obvious choice. Especially when they are on the ground. They move very slowly if not harassed, they stay still for long period of time and they are not terrified by the flash unit. This Australian shelduck was walking slowly between the grass but the vegetation was too dense to take a photo showing the details of its plumage. While checking the duck's path I saw an empty space a couple of meters ahead of it. I focused on this, stepped down the lens to get some depth of field and then waited to see the duck passing in front of my lens. I took 3 photos rapidly and one of them showed the duck in all its glory. Camera: Nikon D2X |
These photographs have been taken at the Attica Zoological Park. They are the property of MCH Portal and cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|