A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

[brian1208]

Wandering around our local estuary nature reserve with the EM-1 + canon 70-300 LIS I took advantage of the better weather to try for a few bird shots.

This pair were roosted alongside the path in the shade of a large Oak and as we passed the tree they suddenly took of. there was only time for a quick burst of three shots at 9fps and they were gone and because of the shade I have had to push the exposure by around +1.5 stops, so they are a little noisy.

Having said that, I reckon they are some of the best duck flight shots I've managed in a long while, what do you make of them?

duck flight 1 by Brian Wadie Photographer, on Flickr

duck flight 2 by Brian Wadie Photographer, on Flickr

This was how they started out, very under-exposed as you can see, I was set for shooting into the sky

DF 2 original by Brian Wadie Photographer, on Flickr

[Guest]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

Just too dammed good, Brian! ... what else can I say?

[brian1208]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

I just processed this one which made me smile, I reckon its spotted I'm using a canon lens on an EM-1 and can't work out what's going on.

A very friendly little Robin, he spent a good 5 minutes whizzing from spot to spot to have a better look (always far enough away that I had to shoot a 300mm, wide open to get the light)

robin look by Brian Wadie Photographer, on Flickr

[Imageryone]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

No1 for me all the way, Brian, that is super, between the two , not only are the wings detailed, but the streamlining as well.

As for the Robin, a great shot for the end of the year.

[Beagletorque]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

Surprising how much information you can squeeze out of the RAW files on the old Oly! #1 for me, but the leading drake could have a touch more brightness on his head!

[brian1208]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

Surprising how much information you can squeeze out of the RAW files on the old Oly! #1 for me, but the leading drake could have a touch more brightness on his head!

Agreed, I did try various methods (adjustment brush, increasing green saturation and lightness etc )but found that I was getting some unacceptable noise creeping in, probably lack of competence on my part

[Mrs T]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

Amazing detail captured, and well recovered!

[brian1208]

Re: A pair of Mallards scared up from the shade

the resolving power and focus accuracy of this combo continues to impress me, this pair of images are the original + a crop down to around 1000 pixels on the longest side, shot using the 9 point box AF target

Teal at extreme distance, resolving power original by Brian Wadie Photographer, on Flickr

Teal at extreme distance, resolving power 100% by Brian Wadie Photographer, on Flickr