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Skimming Across the Water


Skimming Across the Water
Photo Information
Copyright: John Plumb (JPlumb) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 637 W: 166 N: 889] (2884)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-08-05
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D200, NIKKOR AF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 ED DX VR, Optex 77mm Circular Polariser
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/750 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-12-04 17:40
Viewed: 803
Points: 22
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I saw this Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) while taking a walk around Iron Cove one late afternoon. There wasn’t a lot of activity of any kind when he came skimming across the water on his own. He was just inches off the rolling waves.

The ducks are closely related to the Mallard, which has been introduced into Australia from the Northern Hemisphere. The two species basically occupy the same niche and will interbreed in some situations.

The Pacific Black Duck is found in all but the most arid regions of Australia, and extending throughout the Pacific region. It is one of the most versatile of the Australian Ducks. It frequents all types of water.

These ducks are mainly vegetarian, feeding on seeds of aquatic plants. The diet is supplemented with small crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic insects.

Mating coincides with the availability of sufficient food and water. The male helps little in the breeding process. Often, two broods will be raised in a year. The number of offspring produced may be high but only 20% live past the age of two.

Much of this from: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=73
ID from: Simpson K. and Day N. (2004), Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, Penguin Books, Camberwell.

Workflow for this shot was as follows:
The shoot – shot in Raw with Jpeg reference
NEF file adjusted for exposure, shadow and brightness
Adjusted levels for black and white points
Adjusted curves for contrast
Burned and Dodged with overlay layer (5% opacity black and white brush)
Added saturation layer +12 to master,
Saved as a tiff
For this post, cropped, resized, selectively sharpened with USM (toned down edges and water with layer mask and 50% opacity black brush), framed, and saved as a jpeg
pierrefonds, Adanac, rcrick, mlines, Jamesp, jusninasirun has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

very nice pic, no need for the frame, TFS Ori

Hello John,
Attractive minimalism!
The bird is captured with fine details in the plumage, nice freeze of the action...
Good light and fine colours!
Greetings,
Pablo -

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3824 W: 190 N: 11393] (35107)
  • [2007-12-05 5:07]

Hello John,
Nice in-flight of a Pacific Duck in a fine composition over the sea near Sydney. Great sharpness and excellent lighting and colours.
Well done and thanks,
Ivan

Hi John,

A nic eimage of the Pacific Black duck flying over the ocean, the photo has a good composition, sharpness and beautiful colors. thanks for sharing.

Pierre

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1169 W: 1 N: 5208] (17609)
  • [2007-12-05 18:57]

Hello John,
Splendid inflight capture John, sharp focus and great exposure, thanks for sharing.
Rick

  • Great 
  • rcrick Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 717 W: 38 N: 1560] (5019)
  • [2007-12-05 19:39]

Hello John,
Good in-flight shot of this Pacific Black Duck lovely detail in the wings, exposure is spot on, and with a hint of shadow and up against the blue of the sea looks terrific, cheers Rick :)

  • Great 
  • mlines Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 541 W: 24 N: 596] (2870)
  • [2007-12-05 20:49]

Hi John.Ideal flying bird action caught very sharp, easier said than done! Wellcropped with more spaceahead of the bird. TFS. Murray.

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1351 W: 0 N: 5494] (16524)
  • [2007-12-05 23:12]

Hi John

Nicely places subject and great focus. Your timing and framing are both spot on here.

James

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1381 W: 126 N: 5246] (23469)
  • [2007-12-06 5:29]

Hello John, that's a great in-flight shot of that Duck. To produce such a picture someone needs skill and you surely have that. Everything in it is good, well done. Thanks,

Mario

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-12-10 19:40]

Hello John

Super focus and clarity,you have even managed a nice glint in the eye.
Well composed in the frame.
Very good lighting and colours.
A very good in flight shot.
TFS

Rob

Hello John,

I have seen quite a number of posts capturing birds in flight. A big task for me as I have yet to manage a decent shot.

You have captured this very well and so close to the ripples giving nice reflection on the surface. The duck is very well lit and the wing is in clear vivid details. What I like about the whole composition is the cropping that you made giving space in front - a rather big space indicating the speed of the flight. The depth is pretty good considering the aperture selected was f/5.6. Beautiful framing for a superb composition.

Best regards,

Jusni

p/s: Thank for the valuable tips and suggestion on my picture. Appreciated!!

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