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Cruising The Swamp


Cruising The Swamp
Photo Information
Copyright: Scott Evers (scottevers7) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2631 W: 3 N: 3933] (12259)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-03-26
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon 20D, Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS + EF 1.4X II, B+W UV MRC
Exposure: f/11, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-04-12 22:37
Viewed: 983
Points: 66
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I needed to add a duck shot to my gallery, so here is my first duck post. Not a spectacular in flight like you would get from Gert,(ellis49), but it's a start.
I wanted something a little diffrent from the typical portrait, or full body shot.

On a recent trip to the St. Louis Zoo with my good buddy Scott Hale, we spent quite a bit of time in the flight cage that has been remodeled to resemble a typical North American swamp. They have about 20 diffrent species of birds there. To get this near water level shot I had to lay down on a wooden foot bridge. After a few minutes the ducks relaxed and started swimming closer to me. Of course all the people walking thru had a nice chuckle watching some fool almost falling over the edge to get a photo. I guess thats why my wife won't go with me. I got a pretty decent shot on this immature female as she swam right at me.

Assist to Mr. Hale on this one. He had to warn the other people not to trip over me and ruin my shot!

Bufflehead Duck - Bucephala albeola

The large ("buffalo"-sized) head of this diving duck is said to have earned the species its name. The male is black on top and white on bottom, and his black head sports a large white patch extending from the eye to the back of the head. The female is dark brown above, paler below and has a small white cheek patch.

These energetic little ducks prefer to live in well-forested ponds or swamps, where they can avoid being in the open. In the summer, they dive beneath the surface in search of insects and small crustaceans. In the winter, their diet switches more towards the seeds of aquatic plants.

Buffleheads are expert divers, able to stay under water for more than a minute, then often popping up a long way from where they disappeared. One duck usually remains on the surface to watch for danger as the rest of its group dives for food.

Unlike most ducks that nest on the ground, buffleheads nest in the holes of trees, often those left by other bird species.

Information from the St. Louis Zoo Website
elefantino, marhowie, wkshelton, dew77, coasties, Signal-Womb, ScottHale, saguzar, SunToucher, wallhalla15, livios, pablominto, goutham_ramesh, jeanpaul, PDP, Nico, Athila, touristdidi, thistle, Luc, firelord, aido, CTP has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Scott: Want to Kayakscottevers7 1 05-11 20:35
To loot: Strange Rockscottevers7 1 04-13 00:29
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3103 W: 234 N: 5930] (20016)
  • [2006-04-12 23:22]
  • [2]

Great job, Scott. Your effort was well worth it. : )
This is a very nice POV. I was admiring the perspective and the rather unusual reflection.V ery crisp details and natural colors.
We TN'ers sure have been known to put ourselves in strange situations for a shot. Haha...
TFS. : )

  • Great 
  • loot Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5747 W: 606 N: 3505] (9407)
  • [2006-04-12 23:28]
  • [2] [+]

Hi Scott
Excellent capture of the moment showing lovely movement in the water and a beautiful reflection of the bird (complete with a little hallo). You did well with your attempt to show a duck in a slightly different POV.
The composition is great and you did good to include the strange rock on the left. The colours are nice and rich and the DOF is brilliant showing excellent details. The BG on the water surface faded into a nice OOF area that enhances the bird and the exposure was well managed showing great contrasts throughout the photo.
Very well done and TFS.
Regards
Loot

Great shot.
Good details and colors.
Nice reflection and light on the eye of the duck.

Andrea

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1648 W: 79 N: 1438] (4742)
  • [2006-04-13 6:38]

Good shot Scott. Great composition and very nice reflection. Sharp details and great POV. Well done & TFS!

Regards,
Pieter

  • Great 
  • Dando Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 641 W: 32 N: 791] (3080)
  • [2006-04-13 7:14]

Hi Scott, I like it. Great lighting and reflection in the water. Also good detail with the water on the ducks head. Well composed image, TFS.
Dean.

Hi Scott,
Excellent sharpness, clarity, DOF, detail and perfectly exposed. Nice reflection seen, and he's giving ya a nice head-turned pose..
I like it!
Very well done.

Hi Scott, Excellent work, Great reflection , colors are right on, Details are crisp, great work. TFS Kyle

  • Great 
  • Graal Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Silver Note Writer [C: 787 W: 31 N: 20] (5002)
  • [2006-04-13 9:15]

Hi Scott,
good details and nice composition. I like a lot this view. Good captured and well done.
Rgs, Aleksander

Hi Scott

Wow!! Wonderful capture. Excellent low POV. Perfect eye contact and reflection. Tack sharp. Colours are well saturated and the image is excellent quality. Nice work.-)

Great capture Scott, very nice sharpness on the duck and I like the course through the water. Well done.

Hi Scott,
One of those late nights. Hopefully all back to normal after tonight.
Well worth a big green :)
Thanks for posting, have a great Easter weekend.

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2006-04-14 3:35]

Hello Scott!
Excellent capture.POV,details,sharpness,reflections on water and composition are wonderful.TFS...:-)

HI Scott,
Marvelous and well composed image, like always superb details, colours and exposure.
I love its darkness, its perfect. Complete note.
Have a nice weekend friend!
Hernán

Hi Scott,
What else can I add to the critique from Loot. He has mentioned all the excellent features and more. I just like the different pose you gave this duck. There are so many photos of ducks that are almost the same, that I am really happy to see our POV.
Great to mention what you needed to do to get this photo.:-)
TFS,
Niek

Hello Scott,
beautiful natural shot - very clear and colorful. Excellent composition and great details. Great colors. Well done and TFS!
Gr.
Heinz

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2306 W: 324 N: 4306] (16856)
  • [2006-04-14 18:08]

Scott, a great duck-debut.

I like sharpness, pov and composition. Great colors and exposure.

I've been trying to join the duck-club too.

  • Great 
  • osse Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1029 W: 0 N: 90] (7755)
  • [2006-04-14 22:06]

Great job, Scott
Good details and colors with nice reflection.
Well done

osse

Scott,
I think I said, "watch out this guy's crazy"!!
I was curious to see how these shots turned out. Looks like they were worth the wait and worth your army man crawling on the wooden walkway bridge! The reflection is so cool in this picture. The color of the water, this is very pleasant to the eye. The cypress nob is great! I think the "eye level" framing is top-notch. Great job buddy!
Scott

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1427 W: 128 N: 5252] (23221)
  • [2006-04-15 17:18]

Well done Scott on your first duck, I like the composition with the post/rock at the left, the sharpness is top, the exposition is superb with those dark colors.

Very fine work, thanks.

Mario

Hi Scott,
Excellent capture!
Very good POV and the lighting is excellent,
great natural colours, nice catchlight in eye.
Very well done!

Hello Scott,
I like the low POV here, practically on level with the bird!
A very fine portrait, looks like we have a happy duck here...
Pleasant composition, fine colours& details!
Greetings,
Pablo -

Hi Scott
Excellent capture with movement showing in the water, Great first duck posting.
I like the composition and the colors.
TFS
Goutham R

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991] (8113)
  • [2006-04-17 9:45]

Hi Scott,
nice POV the duck looks like its swimming directly to the camera. Nice sharp details and a beautiful reflection. Good composition.
TFS..Sky

Bonjour Scott
C'est une très belle photo avec une belle présentation de belles couleurs et de beaux détails.
Bravo et merci......JP

Superb job of catching the reflections, excellent presentation.

Greg

hi scott
belle lumiere et bonne netteté.
cela fait un beau cliché.
laurent

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2951 W: 366 N: 3779] (11763)
  • [2006-04-18 17:45]

Hello Scott, good shot. Very nice compositon and details. I like hte reflection of the duck too. Well done.

  • Great 
  • Nico Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 209 W: 1 N: 332] (1313)
  • [2006-04-19 10:48]

Is he a little confused. You managed to get a duck to show character! Well done.

  • Great 
  • Athila Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 312 W: 238 N: 427] (1537)
  • [2006-04-24 18:24]

Hi Scott!

Well composed and excellent low POV. As usual sharp and well exposed. Shallow DOF creates beautifull blur in the BG waves. And FG reflexion creates a nice symetry.

Great shot and TFS.

I embarasss my nepali freinds all the time..... and they are hard to embarass! It becomes a mental illness I think, taking pictures. I sold my house and left for asia, how else can you explain it? The duck is beautiful. I like the water ripples. They catch the light on their edges.

Hello Scott,
This is a lovely shot of this duck! I never thought I will say it, but it the duck looks really cute. Love her pose and whole picture. You had a great idea for it. The water looks superb too.
VERY WELL DONE!

Yeah Scott, love the POV .. at the ducks level .. well done despite looking a bit odd for the tourists, nice focus and the reflection a plus .. Buy a canoe or kayak ,, ;) Nicely done I like it...


Scott

  • Great 
  • aido Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1095 W: 169 N: 1218] (4046)
  • [2006-06-15 17:54]

Hi Scott,
Having tried to get a good clear shot of a duck coming towards me I know it's really not as easy as it looks. A good approach to try for something out of the ordinary and you've got it here. Excellent detail you've captured, great exposure and nice light across the water. Nice framing too.
Cheers,
Adrian

  • Great 
  • CTP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 774 W: 6 N: 1107] (3183)
  • [2006-06-21 3:26]

Hi Scott,
This is a Cute Duck photo my friend and very successful.
Great pov,dof,focus,sharpness,note,framing,ripples and reflections.Well Done.TFS
Chris

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