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View Full Version : They say "Quack!"; I say "BRRRR!"

cdifoto
02-09-2006, 03:01 PM
Ok I usually don't shoot ducks. I actually don't really even like 'em. However, I've been a little ill lately and stuck in the house for the past 2 weeks solid. I was itchin' to go out and get some air and shoot something outdoors since I started to feel a little better. I went down to the local creek and got these with Bigma.


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/quacks/2006-02-09_002.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/quacks/2006-02-09_006.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/quacks/2006-02-09_007.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/quacks/2006-02-09_012.jpg


Had to shoot wide open to get even decent shutter speeds (1/200th or so @ 500mm is barely handholdable for me when it's this cold) at ISO800 so I hope you don't mind the lack of DOF on the last shot. I wish I coulda got it at about f/14 to get 'em both in focus. Unfortunately I forgot to throw my tripod or even monopod in the van before I left.
George Riehm
02-09-2006, 03:33 PM
Those shots are just ducky.

Why appologize when you can almost see the pinfeathers on the lead duck.

Is that at 500mm wide open (!!!)? Maybe someday my 18-125 will grow up to be a bigma.;)

Thanks.
cdifoto
02-09-2006, 03:37 PM
Those shots are just ducky.

Why appologize when you can almost see the pinfeathers on the lead duck.

Is that at 500mm wide open (!!!)? Maybe someday my 18-125 will grow up to be a bigma.;)

Thanks.

Thanks but I wished I had the 2 heads in focus rather than one in a front bokeh situation. But hey I'll take what I can get when I don't care about ducks. lol.

They were all wide open @ 500mm except for the second one, which was wide open @ 226mm.
George Riehm
02-09-2006, 03:46 PM
Thanks but I wished I had the 2 heads in focus rather than one in a front bokeh situation. But hey I'll take what I can get when I don't care about ducks. lol.

They were all wide open @ 500mm except for the second one, which was wide open @ 226mm.

Some darned steady hands. Someday there will be a RAW processor function that will allow that type of correction.

The ducks are just the subjects, it's the pictures that count.
cdifoto
02-09-2006, 03:54 PM
Some darned steady hands. Someday there will be a RAW processor function that will allow that type of correction.

The ducks are just the subjects, it's the pictures that count.

Thanks. Not all the images are tack sharp and I can do better when A) I'm not so d@mn cold and/or B) I'm not so d@mn sick (although I wasn't feeling too bad today I still wasn't optimal). I was shivering a good bit but hunkering down on the bank and dropping my elbow to my knee for support helped a lot. I tried to do a lot of focus-recompose because they were relatively sedentary for awhile but then I guess I spooked 'em a little bit and they started moving around more.

I'm obviously NOT a birder. lol.
aparmley
02-09-2006, 04:07 PM
Thanks. Not all the images are tack sharp and I can do better when A) I'm not so d@mn cold and/or B) I'm not so d@mn sick (although I wasn't feeling too bad today I still wasn't optimal). I was shivering a good bit but hunkering down on the bank and dropping my elbow to my knee for support helped a lot. I tried to do a lot of focus-recompose because they were relatively sedentary for awhile but then I guess I spooked 'em a little bit and they started moving around more.

I'm obviously NOT a birder. lol.

That lens pointed at me would spook me thats for sure.
cdifoto
02-09-2006, 04:14 PM
That lens pointed at me would spook me thats for sure.

Heh yeah it's quite an intimidating lens.
24Peter
02-09-2006, 04:24 PM
Ducks are cool (or in this case, cold). I've photographed ducks before. It's tougher than it looks. Good shots Don. :)
coldrain
02-09-2006, 04:36 PM
Those are not ducks, you silly goose :p
Well, the first one is. If it quacks like a goose and it walks like a goose, it must be a goose.
cdifoto
02-09-2006, 04:45 PM
Ducks are cool (or in this case, cold). I've photographed ducks before. It's tougher than it looks. Good shots Don. :)

Thanks Pete. These guys must be used to visitors of the homo erectus type though because they let me get right along the shoreline about 15-20 feet from 'em.
cdifoto
02-09-2006, 04:46 PM
Those are not ducks, you silly goose :p
Well, the first one is. If it quacks like a goose and it walks like a goose, it must be a goose.


Hey I don't like these things, let alone shoot 'em. I can't tell 'em apart unless it's a Canadian Goose which is an obvious spot!
cdifoto
02-09-2006, 04:53 PM
Here's another one, heavily cropped, that I didn't think was worthwhile at first.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/quacks/2006-02-09_003.jpg
cwphoto
02-10-2006, 05:03 AM
Good job CDI, photographing birds is harder than I first thought...
jamison55
02-10-2006, 05:10 AM
I hate birds...Geese expecially, but I like that Bigma!
cdifoto
02-10-2006, 05:21 AM
Good job CDI, photographing birds is harder than I first thought...

Thanks Christian. I tried shooting real birds but failed miserably. By the time I see a bird and get my lens raised, I lose the damn thing. Most of the time it's still flying in plain site but I can't find it through the viewfinder! :eek: :rolleyes:

I stick to things on the ground...
cdifoto
02-10-2006, 05:22 AM
I hate birds...Geese expecially, but I like that Bigma!

Yeah I don't like 'em either...but I'll sell you the lens....








....for 2 grand! :D :p
jamison55
02-10-2006, 05:29 AM
Sounds like the kind of deal I end up getting!
cdifoto
02-10-2006, 05:47 AM
Sounds like the kind of deal I end up getting!

Hey at least you'd know you're getting a sharp copy! ;)



On a more serious note...there have been a few fleeting moments where I've considered selling it. But I know I wouldn't get what I'd need to justify selling it and doing without the reach.
cwphoto
02-10-2006, 06:07 AM
Thanks Christian. I tried shooting real birds but failed miserably. By the time I see a bird and get my lens raised, I lose the damn thing. Most of the time it's still flying in plain site but I can't find it through the viewfinder! :eek: :rolleyes:

I stick to things on the ground...

I know what you mean Man - I've only ever got any decent shots of them when the fly into my backyard. I see those amazing shots of like an Eagle coming into land etc and I realise how varied the skills are in this photography game.:o
cdifoto
02-10-2006, 08:02 AM
I know what you mean Man - I've only ever got any decent shots of them when the fly into my backyard. I see those amazing shots of like an Eagle coming into land etc and I realise how varied the skills are in this photography game.:o

Amen to that. I respect it because I sure can't duplicate it. Not only do I lack the skills, I don't have the patience to sit around and wait for birds either.
jamison55
02-10-2006, 09:11 AM
Yeah, birds suck.
aparmley
02-10-2006, 09:11 AM
Hunting and birding are very closely related. Instead of the thrill of the kill its the thrill of the photo. Some of these guys will wait around all day for a shot.
George Riehm
02-10-2006, 09:41 AM
Hunting and birding are very closely related. Instead of the thrill of the kill its the thrill of the photo. Some of these guys will wait around all day for a shot.

In talking to some "birders" that I ran into at The Canyon, it's not uncommon to spend a week or more in a photo/observation blind.

Dedication or mental instability... you decide.;)
cwphoto
02-10-2006, 05:43 PM
In talking to some "birders" that I ran into at The Canyon, it's not uncommon to spend a week or more in a photo/observation blind.

Dedication or mental instability... you decide.;)

Whatever it is the photo world is a better place for them - I see some stunning wildlife images around and occassionally I stop to think how the hell they got that shot...