Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
This photo is a testimonial to that. I was trying to take a photo of these two ducks who were in a heavily wooded area. No matter what I did, I could not get a clear shot of them. When I moved a few branches, it startled the ducks and off they flew. But to my amazement, I turned and saw the two ducks landing on a stump that was about 80 feet from me. I had a completely unobstructed view of them and a great background to boot! I did not move my tripod, I merely turned my camera around and started firing. I felt like Moose Peterson--I was firing away at like 1,000 frames per second!
I really like the earth tones in this scene and how the ducks are clearly separated from the background. The background was far enough away so that even at f/9.5 (which made sure the ducks would be totally in focus), I got a very nice out-of-focus background.
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D700, 300mm f/4 with 1.7x Nikon Teleconverter and polarizing filter attached, shot at ISO 200, f/9.5 and 1/90th of a second on a tripod.
Post Processing:
Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast. Increased color saturation and hue for yellow and green.
Photoshop—used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add contrast to highlights, mid-tones and shallows, and added a boarder to the image and added boarder using a stroke and various layer style options.
Nicely done Larry. I agree with your comments on the background.
ReplyDeleteVery pleasing photo. It looks like you set the birds up. Like Larry, I think the background adds a lot to this one.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Very nice --- the greens, browns, red-orange beaks all work great together, super background bokeh and I really like the texture of the log they are standing on. Now that you are becoming such a proficient bird photographer, I wish you would identify the birds you are shooting...duck??? what kind of duck? and what was the swimming bird you posted a couple of days ago that was also shot in Brazos Bend? The curious want to know!
ReplyDeleteThese are Black Bellied Whistling Ducks.
ReplyDeleteNice job with the out of focus background . Good color and focus.
DHaass
DHaass is correct on the bird. I am surprised you got this close to them because they are usually extremely shy. Like everyone else, I like the earth tones and the contrast between the sharpness of the birds versus the out of focus background. Really good shot.'
ReplyDeleteAnne
Larry, you followed the rules well. The two ducks(ducks is good enough for me)near 1/3 lines and the eyes are sharp.
ReplyDeleteWayne
Very nice Patrick!
ReplyDeleteI really like the composition. The two ducks seem to be "on guard" watching out for each other! :-)
Well done!
Barry