Muskrat

Posted by Chris Fagyal on Sat Sep 06, 2003 2:06 pm

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This was taken today at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, MN. These guys were everywhere, and this was one of two right next to each other about 6 feet from the edge of the boardwalk i was on. This is full frame, and as far back as I could get without going over the edge into the water. I also took this with my camera steadied on top of my camera bag, as low to the ground as humanly possible to get the best angle. I cropped a slight bit off the right hand side to get rid of two reeds which had some blown out highlights on them on the bottom right corner of the image.

Canon Eos10D + 400mm f/5.6 @ f/9.0, 1/125th sec, manual exposure, fill flash at -1 2/3

Chris Fagyal
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Last edited by Chris Fagyal on Sat Sep 06, 2003 3:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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by chris earle on Sat Sep 06, 2003 2:47 pm

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Very nicely done. Look at those nails!!! I like the compostion, the light and the pose.

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by Dennis Olivero on Sat Sep 06, 2003 3:45 pm

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Chris
Thanks for coming over to FFM with a post. Great subject. I have been trying to work these guys off and on in the past and have a few in the water but none up like this. Great catch. Is there another woodlake in Roseville or did you mean Richfield? What iso did you use? (so many questions sorry).. The reason I ask is that the feet are sharp and there is just a titch of softness in the head, probably from chewing movement.. maybe just a little more ss when chewing.. Exposure is perfect and I like the composition. Thanks again for posting here...

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by Chris Fagyal on Sat Sep 06, 2003 3:56 pm

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Richfield sorry Dennis

I was using ISO 200 because of how dim the light.

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by Harvey Edelman on Sat Sep 06, 2003 4:04 pm

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Nice one Chris.

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by E.J. Peiker on Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:36 pm

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I'm not sure I've ever seen one of these. thanks for contributing to my rodent education with this nice shot

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by Bill Keown on Sat Sep 06, 2003 10:13 pm

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Chris,
Great catch. Sure looks like it's bulking upfor winter.

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by NDCheryl on Sat Sep 06, 2003 11:00 pm

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Nice shot Chris. I have never been able to get this close to a muskrat-they see me and swim the other direction. Nice exposure and you have got to love the nails!

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by Rich S on Sun Sep 07, 2003 7:22 am

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First time I've ever seen an "in your face" shot of a muskrat. Nicely done. Love the claws on the feet poking out from under the leaf. Might take just a bit more USM. (I've found that ISO 400 on the 10D works pretty well - better than on the 1Ds - so you might want to consider that in the future if you're looking to bump the shutter speed up further.)

Rich

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by Juli Wilcox on Mon Sep 08, 2003 11:58 pm

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Excellent catch on the behavior; would sharpen the eye, if possible. The critters are hard to catch in good light no matter what time of day and that beady little eye is the thing that conveys their essence. Interesting that the sharp claws and the BG reeds repeat similar lines. That makes for a more interesting image, too.

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