Mallard Duck
One of my favorite things to do is to load up the car with all my gear and go for a ride around Rhode Island with my wife. Our only known destination is Dunkin Donuts for an Iced Coffee, and after that we just kind of roam the state to see what we can find. I have no idea what I am going to photograph, and that makes it that much more interesting!
On New Years Day we decided to take one of our little trips, and after all, what better way to start the year then with a little photography, right? As we were driving we passed a small side street that leads to a little marina right here in Warwick. I pass this street all the time and never give it a second thought – the only place down there is a restaurant that I occasionally go to to get my wife fish & chips. However, on this afternoon I noticed a large number of birds in the water out of the corner of my eye, and had to turn the car around to see if there might be anything interesting.
After finding a place to park and walking down to the waters edge I found that the ducks were really unfazed by my appearance and continued on with whatever it is ducks do to celebrate New Years. I went back to my car and put my 70-200mm lens on my camera and grabbed a pair of knee pads out of the trunk. Yup, knee pads – the pair I used to wear in my roller hockey days. They are great for when you want to get down low and kneel on a muddy beach full of rocks and shells. Highly recommend a pair! I then simply picked a spot near the center of the ducks activity and settled in to take some shots. I chose an angle that put the sun behind me and over my left shoulder, so that the direct light is coming from the side instead of direct on. Side lighting will help bring some dimension to your subject – notice the shadows from the feathers on the underside of the ducks wing? Kind of makes it looks a little 3 dimensional doesn’t it? That is side lighting and it can be lovely! I set my aperture to f/2.8 to get a nice shallow depth of focus, and at ISO 100 I was able to use a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second. At 200mm shooting hand held the Image Stabilization feature of the lens really helped me get a nice, sharp image. Without it I would have had to up my ISO so that I could get a faster shutter speed.
The next hour was spent taking shots of the ducks as they went through their routine, which for the most part means sticking their head under water looking for food. I was fortunate enough that this little guy decided to groom himself a bit and then dry his wings. There are several things that I really like about this shot – that iridescent green color in the head, the catch-light in his eye, and I just love those outstretched wings – the tones, the shadows. I think that the position of the mallards wings and the ripples in the water give this image a real sense of motion and activity, that really makes the shot for me. I hope that you enjoy it too!