Plumed Whistling-Duck

Gallery: AvianPosted July 13, 2010186 views16 comments

Simon and I approached a small dam a bit larger than a tennis court and we could hear a steadily rising whistle behind the earth banks. There was a sudden whirring noise as about 1000 ducks lifted off the ground and then settled again with the whistling reaching a crescendo. An amazing experience. The birds were very reluctant to leave the dam but it was extremely hard to compose shots with so many tightly packed birds.

1d2N 500/f4 1.4X
ISO 400 f7.1 1/2000
someone with better cloning skills than me might try to remove that annoying dark root in the water.

cheers
Rob

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Kenneth Arni on July 13, 2010 at 6:42 AM

Love it, I like how the duck in fg is in great focus. It really stands out for me.

Registered on December 24, 2008, 112 Posts, 629 Comments

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on July 13, 2010 at 9:23 AM

...it was extremely hard to compose shots with so many tightly packed birds.

Maybe so, but you did an excellent job with this one. The bird in the foreground is nice and sharp and has an interesting pose, he looks curious. Nice colors and details. The dark root doesn't bother me at all. I think it kind of helps anchor the shot into the environment. Well done.

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on July 13, 2010 at 11:04 AM

Hi Rob,

I like the color tone being so consistent throughout the photo. The root is not a negative for me. You might want to try cropping a little more off the top to just barely over the heads of the OOF ducks on the left which would remove more of the neck of the headless duck.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on July 13, 2010 at 12:18 PM

A terrific frame very well captured!
I agree with Peter's suggestion about croping and feel that it needs some CCW rotation.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 13, 2010 at 12:44 PM

What an interesting experience, I think you did a pretty good job getting several in focus. I like the composition and the root does not bother me, however the water level seem to be slightly tilted, well done in getting a challenging shot.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Darren McKenna on July 13, 2010 at 1:36 PM

Cool image, love the group shot.

darrenmckenna.com

Registered on October 28, 2008, 31 Posts, 214 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on July 13, 2010 at 2:19 PM

I like this a lot Rob, even with that root.

A great example of how super low angle can make an image. The fact that the front duck is unobstructed and so clear and colorful helps a lot to make it the focus point and I am not at all bothered by the 'crowd' in the BG.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 13, 2010 at 4:38 PM

Works well - that bloke with the orange eye was the standout of the crowd.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on July 13, 2010 at 4:48 PM

Very nice capture! Great grouy photo.

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on July 13, 2010 at 8:24 PM

Rob:
It's a neat group shot. I like the colors of the image and the gradation in focus/sharpness starting with the very sharp image of the bird in the foreground. I like Peter's suggestion for cropping too.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on July 13, 2010 at 8:34 PM

Rob, what I like best about this image is the sharpness of the front bird combined with the fact that its pose is just different enough from that of the other birds - that combination gives this real impact for me. I'd love to have been there, heard the crescendo and seen what you and Simon did. That's often as much fun as getting the shot.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on July 13, 2010 at 10:59 PM

Like the low angle and the way you composed the ducks in the frame. Very nice!

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on July 13, 2010 at 11:47 PM

neat shot, Rob, and sounds like a cool experience too. I agree with most of the other comments: I like how well the subject stands out as a focal point of the image despite all the other ducks around him. I like the crop suggestion and do think a little CW rotation would be good. cool plumes along the flanks--I've never seen anything like that before.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on July 14, 2010 at 2:05 AM

Very, very nice. The frontmost duck takes the eye and the flock is context. Lovely work.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on July 14, 2010 at 4:58 AM

I think this shot works very well Rob.Having just the nearest bird sharp gives deep to the image. If you had gone for greater dof I think this would have taken away the impact the image has. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on July 15, 2010 at 2:40 PM

Rob,

I love the crowded birds and in contrast how well the sharpest bird stands out from them, the great colors, sharpness, comp and details. It does appear to need a slight CW rotation, but that might be an optical illusion too. I'd leave the root in, it doesn't not distract me at all and it is a natural feature.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments