Wood Duck Head-shot


Posted by Greg Downing on Sat Jan 17, 2004 9:39 pm

All times are UTC-05:00

Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 22 posts | 
Image
© Greg Downing Photography all rights reserved.

Wood Duck, Santee, CA

Greetings from sunny San Diego!

January is duck month for Heather and I as we travel far and wide to capture some images of as many species of ducks as we can. We just arrived in San Diego this evening and are looking forward to spending some time here.

I have a pre-visualized shot of a drake wood duck (this isn't it) in my head and today, after a long flight out west, we squeezed in an hour to practice before the sun went down. I'm pretty happy with this one, but I'll let you know when/if I get the shot I really want. ;)

Looking forward to getting together with some NSN'ers for dinner tonight and some morning shooting. Thanks to Jason for helping pull it together!

Forgot to mention this is posted from a laptop...

EOS 10D, EF 600/4 IS, 1.4TC, 1/800 @ f9, ISO 400, slight crop top and bottom.
Greg Downing
Publisher, NatureScapes.Net
[url=http://www.gdphotography.com/]Visit my website for images, workshops and newsletters![/url]


Last edited by Greg Downing on Sat Jan 17, 2004 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Posted by:
Greg Downing
Publisher
Location: Maryland
Member #:00001
Posts: 19318
Joined: 16 Aug 2003

   

by BrianS on Sat Jan 17, 2004 9:45 pm
BrianS
Lifetime Member
Posts: 3462
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
Member #:00196
Very jealous ... handsome fellow, whites look just a touch over but I am not sure how you'd expose for whites without throwing the iridescence off.
[b]Brian Spangler[/b]
[url=http://brianspangler.naturescapes.net][b][u]http://brianspangler.naturescapes.net[/u][/b][/url]
[url=http://www.naturescapes.net/membership.htm][b][u]NSN 0196[/u][/b][/url]
 

by RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto on Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:22 pm
User avatar
RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 6509
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: pasadena, ca.
Can't wait to see what you have in mind because this is pretty darn good.
http://www.gon2foto.net (current site)   
The grandeur of nature is God's glory.
 

by Jack Frank on Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:32 pm
Jack Frank
Lifetime Member
Posts: 765
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Philipsburg, PA
Member #:00027
Very good, i also can't wait to see the next one
Jack Frank
http://www.jackfrankphoto.com/
http://www.jackfrankphotography.com/
[b][url=http://www.naturescapes.net/membership.htm]NSN 0027[/url][/b]
 

by Bill Whala on Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:35 pm
User avatar
Bill Whala
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5979
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Excellent!!
Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"
 

by Alan Murphy on Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:38 pm
User avatar
Alan Murphy
Lifetime Member
Posts: 27330
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Houston, Texas
Member #:00014
And there it is... as about as perfect exposure I have seen on this species. The detail and sheen is awesome. You didn't mention flash, I'm seeing three catchlights and was wondering how to shoot Wood Ducks without blowing out the bill with flash. Great shot Greg.
Alan Murphy
NSN 0014
www.alanmurphyphotography.com
 

by Wayne Nicholas on Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:55 pm
User avatar
Wayne Nicholas
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5751
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Houston, TX USA
Member #:00046
If this isn't what you had in mind, it's a darn good substitute. Have fun in So Cal.
[b]Wayne Nicholas[/b]
[b]Nanpa Member[/b]
[url=http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=25][b]Texas Regional Moderator[/b][/url]
[color=blue][url=http://www.NicholasNaturePhoto.com][b]NicholasNaturePhoto[/b][/color][/url]
[color=blue][url=http://waynenicholas.naturescapes.net][b]Naturescapes Portfolio[/b][/color][/url]
[b]NSN 0046[/b]
 

by Wayne Ellis on Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:56 pm
User avatar
Wayne Ellis
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2410
Joined: 23 Aug 2003
Location: Sunshine Coast Qld Australia
Excellent work Greg.
Comments and reposts welcome

Wayne Ellis
 

by AlexC on Sat Jan 17, 2004 11:20 pm
User avatar
AlexC
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5948
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Member #:00024
Triple catch-lites ??
Killer head shot!!! 8)
[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
[b]NSN-0024[/b]
"At the feast of ego everyone leaves hungry." - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, AZ
 

by Greg Downing on Sun Jan 18, 2004 1:10 am
User avatar
Greg Downing
Publisher
Posts: 19318
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Maryland
Member #:00001
Hey guys :) I really can't explain the catch lights but no flash was used. It was just a few minutes before sunset. I suspect the sun was reflecting off of the water. I actually meant to remove two of them...;)

BTW we just go back from the NSN dinner and it was a great turn-out for a last-minute outing and we all had fun! Can't wait to get out there in the cliffs in the morning.

Thanks for the comments :)
Greg Downing
Publisher, NatureScapes.Net
[url=http://www.gdphotography.com/]Visit my website for images, workshops and newsletters![/url]
 

by Juli Wilcox on Sun Jan 18, 2004 2:10 am
User avatar
Juli Wilcox
Editor in Chief
Posts: 3373
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Upper Great Plains
Member #:00010
One of my favorite species. Looks pretty darn good coming from a lap-top. :D
[b]Juli Wilcox[/b]
[b]Former Editor in Chief, NSN[/b]
 

by Anthony Medici on Sun Jan 18, 2004 8:57 am
User avatar
Anthony Medici
Lifetime Member
Posts: 6879
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Champions Gate, FL
Member #:00012
The catchlights are definitely from the water too. Great image. However, did you have to mention the fact that it's WARM there? I'm glad the dinner went well. Did Heather practice her people picture skills again?
Tony
 

by Jim Urbach on Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:58 am
User avatar
Jim Urbach
Lifetime Member
Posts: 29711
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Sanford, Florida
Member #:00049
Greg,

Superb image. The sheen is fantastic.

Jim
Enjoy viewing

Jim Urbach

http://www.jimurbach.smugmug.com


http://jimurbach.smugmug.com
 

by Marc Oliver on Sun Jan 18, 2004 12:03 pm
Marc Oliver
Forum Contributor
Posts: 751
Joined: 23 Aug 2003
Location: Nova Scotia
:shock: :shock: :shock: Aarrrgh! You're killin' me here.... This is just too good - can't wait to see the shot you actually want! :D

cheers, Oliver
 

by Dan Barthel on Sun Jan 18, 2004 12:04 pm
Dan Barthel
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2122
Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Location: Surprise, AZ
WOW
NSN 061
Dan
 

by Campbell on Sun Jan 18, 2004 5:13 pm
User avatar
Campbell
Forum Contributor
Posts: 4513
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Evanston, Wyoming
Nice one Greg, I wonder if the catch light could have been a car behind you?
I am glad we had a good turn out at the dinner, I realy thought they would have put together a better table for us :x As it was, It was great to see some of the people who I been talking to via NSN.
I had a great time in La Jolla this morning too. Thanks to all the NSN'ers who showed up, even the two from out of state. I am glad you guys made it.
I look forward to our next outing....it wont be long.
Jason Vaclavek
NSN 0062
http://www.JCVPhoto.com
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Jan 18, 2004 7:49 pm
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86776
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
Looks great to me - we had 15 species here today cooperate so Friday should be another good day :)
 

by Laura Stiefel on Sun Jan 18, 2004 7:51 pm
User avatar
Laura Stiefel
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4184
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Northwest, Ohio
Member #:00229
This is so nice... I especially like the way the iridescent colors show up here. :)
Laura Stiefel
[b]NSN 0229[/b]
 

by Juan E. Bahamon on Sun Jan 18, 2004 8:41 pm
User avatar
Juan E. Bahamon
Lifetime Member
Posts: 5688
Joined: 22 Aug 2003
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Member #:00080
EJ:

Very nice and well saturated. Congratulations.
Juan E. Bahamon
www.birdsofcorpuschristi.com
www.juanbahamonhummingbirds.com
 

by Greg Downing on Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:37 pm
User avatar
Greg Downing
Publisher
Posts: 19318
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Maryland
Member #:00001
Juan E. Bahamon wrote:EJ:

Very nice and well saturated. Congratulations.
Juan,

I'll take that as a compliment ;)

Greg
Greg Downing
Publisher, NatureScapes.Net
[url=http://www.gdphotography.com/]Visit my website for images, workshops and newsletters![/url]
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
22 posts | 

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group