Nice day if ure a duck

nastas · 19th April 2006, 1:25 AM

Well it had been raining all day and my 350d was feeling dissapointed in the passanger seat not having been used all day. When on my way home i passed these little guys.

These are some of my first shots with my 75-300 and i think they turned out alright.

iso 100, 260mm, f5.6, 1/160s

iso 100, 300mm, f5.6, 1/400s

Now all i need to know is how to improve the photos for next time. (although i dont see me finding ducks on the side of the road again any time soon)

And yes the ducks got safely off the road

Raytracer · 19th April 2006, 1:34 AM

I see cute things! and they have red eye! AAH DEMONS!

sorry, it's early. Nice photos, I'm guessing you didn't really have much time for setup?

Only criticism would be the redeye on the ducks (unless that was their natural colour) and possibly the first shot could be taken at a slightly different angle - but only if you have the time for a setup shot. else, great pics

nastas · 19th April 2006, 1:47 AM

Hmmm to be honest im not sure what colour a ducks eye is sposed to be.... in all my photos they came out that redy orange colour so i hope thats it.

I have a few more photos with the ducks in the position where the first photo is but looking towards the camera not walking away (they were telling me off to be honest) except i blurred them

. At 300mm i relise that pretty much every movement shows up in slow shutter speeds. Spose i could have upped the iso and quickened the shutter except the whole ordeal was over within a minute or two and i was too busy trying to get it all right before the ducks ran off.

If i can be bothered ill put up some low res copies of the other shots just to compare the composition as i really want as much comments on how to imrpove my photos.

Very new to this but have an ok camera and really do wanna get good at it.

Raytracer · 19th April 2006, 2:07 AM

Here's a photo taken in march of a few ducks lounging by the lake in the botanic gardens here. Ducks seem to have red rims in their eyes, but not the whole eye. this pic was taken before I started getting half-decent at photography (still suck, but I'm getting better) and learning about iso settings and how to use the manual controls on my cam (such as they are). so the water's very blown, and the whole pic is in focus, not just the ducks (whoa, I didn't realise how easy it is to spell the other word there!) (I probably should have used a wider ap, and a lower exposure, but this was shot in full auto). No photoshopping besides resize was done on this pic:

edit: also, I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of photoshopping your pic a little to see what I could do to it (photoshop can work wonders

):

pezzy · 19th April 2006, 4:51 AM

these photos remind me of these really sad photos of ducks and duckettes (haha i dont know what baby ducks are called) walking across a drain and falling in between the gaps.

Unit01 · 19th April 2006, 6:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pezzy

these photos remind me of these really sad photos of ducks and duckettes (haha i dont know what baby ducks are called) walking across a drain and falling in between the gaps.

You'd be looking for the word 'ducklings'.

peewee82 · 19th April 2006, 2:39 PM

Duckettes haha.

That photoshopping looks too unnatural imo. Too much USM.

I think they're fine for what you had to work with. I get the feeling you couldn't just setup a tripod and some lights on the road. Just a bit faster on the shutter speed perhaps, and the second one they might be slightly out of focus. I like the car coming towards them though.

Oh and I've never seen Red-Eye like that lol, something tells me that was their natural demon colour.

Jackolow · 19th April 2006, 2:49 PM

ducklings?

Those ducks look funny... I like the fat brown ones more..

wrobel · 19th April 2006, 4:21 PM

Great shots, I love how they all kept inside the safety line. The ominous presence of the looming car adds impact to the story.

pezzy · 19th April 2006, 4:39 PM

haha yeah ducklings thats it thanks

nastas · 19th April 2006, 7:26 PM

Heres another 2 i took while i was at it.

The first 1 came out too blurred and the second one i wasnt happy with the how far out of frame the car was. Third one was a mixture of everything.

It was interesting to watch how the ducks walked up the road inside the safety line untill they got to the spot where they wanted to cross. They then sat on the line waiting for traffic to pass and then when it was clear one of the adult ducks crossed infront with the ducklings in the middle and the other adult at the back.

Kinda reminded me of primary school when u went on excursions and ure teachers would watch youre every move.

sabretooth · 19th April 2006, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrobel

Great shots, I love how they all kept inside the safety line. The ominous presence of the looming car adds impact to the story.

And fortunately, no impacts were involved.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pezzy

these photos remind me of these really sad photos of ducks and duckettes (haha i dont know what baby ducks are called) walking across a drain and falling in between the gaps.

The last pic of the mother duck looking over the ducklings is a fake. I had a closer look at the pic where the mother duck is supposedly looking back for her missing duckling and you can see where it's been photoshopped on.

pezzy · 20th April 2006, 6:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabretooth

The last pic of the mother duck looking over the ducklings is a fake. I had a closer look at the pic where the mother duck is supposedly looking back for her missing duckling and you can see where it's been photoshopped on.

Ohh thats good to know

. I hope the other pics are fakes too....cause it really is very sad

.

Bosk · 20th April 2006, 9:37 PM

Aren't the babies CUTE!

It's also further evidence that animals are much smarter than a lot of people give them credit for.

samos · 20th April 2006, 9:42 PM

Don't pay much attention to this section of the forum but the one with the oncomming car is now my desktop.. class.

19th April 2006, 1:25 AM	#1
nastas Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 244	Nice day if ure a duck Well it had been raining all day and my 350d was feeling dissapointed in the passanger seat not having been used all day. When on my way home i passed these little guys. These are some of my first shots with my 75-300 and i think they turned out alright. iso 100, 260mm, f5.6, 1/160s iso 100, 300mm, f5.6, 1/400s Now all i need to know is how to improve the photos for next time. (although i dont see me finding ducks on the side of the road again any time soon) And yes the ducks got safely off the road

19th April 2006, 1:34 AM	#2
Raytracer Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,572	I see cute things! and they have red eye! AAH DEMONS! sorry, it's early. Nice photos, I'm guessing you didn't really have much time for setup? Only criticism would be the redeye on the ducks (unless that was their natural colour) and possibly the first shot could be taken at a slightly different angle - but only if you have the time for a setup shot. else, great pics __________________ Random Raytracer on facebook Random Raytracer on flickr

19th April 2006, 2:07 AM	#4
Raytracer Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,572	Here's a photo taken in march of a few ducks lounging by the lake in the botanic gardens here. Ducks seem to have red rims in their eyes, but not the whole eye. this pic was taken before I started getting half-decent at photography (still suck, but I'm getting better) and learning about iso settings and how to use the manual controls on my cam (such as they are). so the water's very blown, and the whole pic is in focus, not just the ducks (whoa, I didn't realise how easy it is to spell the other word there!) (I probably should have used a wider ap, and a lower exposure, but this was shot in full auto). No photoshopping besides resize was done on this pic: edit: also, I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of photoshopping your pic a little to see what I could do to it (photoshop can work wonders ): __________________ Random Raytracer on facebook Random Raytracer on flickr Last edited by Raytracer; 19th April 2006 at 2:18 AM.

20th April 2006, 9:37 PM	#14
Bosk Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ballarat, Victoria Posts: 2,164	Aren't the babies CUTE! It's also further evidence that animals are much smarter than a lot of people give them credit for. __________________ Politics, n: [Poly "many" + tics "blood-sucking parasites"] -Larry Hardiman *Lapped 6300 @ 490FSB Ultra 120 Extreme * P35-DS3 * 2GB OCZ Reaper * Corsair 620W * Seagate 320GB * 20" Widescreen**

20th April 2006, 9:42 PM	#15
samos Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 7,658	Don't pay much attention to this section of the forum but the one with the oncomming car is now my desktop.. class. __________________ http://www.irontanks.com.au/

19th April 2006, 1:47 AM	#3
nastas Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 244	Hmmm to be honest im not sure what colour a ducks eye is sposed to be.... in all my photos they came out that redy orange colour so i hope thats it. I have a few more photos with the ducks in the position where the first photo is but looking towards the camera not walking away (they were telling me off to be honest) except i blurred them . At 300mm i relise that pretty much every movement shows up in slow shutter speeds. Spose i could have upped the iso and quickened the shutter except the whole ordeal was over within a minute or two and i was too busy trying to get it all right before the ducks ran off. If i can be bothered ill put up some low res copies of the other shots just to compare the composition as i really want as much comments on how to imrpove my photos. Very new to this but have an ok camera and really do wanna get good at it.

19th April 2006, 4:51 AM	#5
pezzy Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney Posts: 411	these photos remind me of these really sad photos of ducks and duckettes (haha i dont know what baby ducks are called) walking across a drain and falling in between the gaps.

19th April 2006, 2:39 PM	#7
peewee82 Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Brisbane Posts: 901	Duckettes haha. That photoshopping looks too unnatural imo. Too much USM. I think they're fine for what you had to work with. I get the feeling you couldn't just setup a tripod and some lights on the road. Just a bit faster on the shutter speed perhaps, and the second one they might be slightly out of focus. I like the car coming towards them though. Oh and I've never seen Red-Eye like that lol, something tells me that was their natural demon colour.

19th April 2006, 2:49 PM	#8
Jackolow Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Mount Isa, Qld Posts: 1,527	ducklings? Those ducks look funny... I like the fat brown ones more..

19th April 2006, 4:21 PM	#9
wrobel Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Adelaide Posts: 701	Great shots, I love how they all kept inside the safety line. The ominous presence of the looming car adds impact to the story.

19th April 2006, 4:39 PM	#10
pezzy Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney Posts: 411	haha yeah ducklings thats it thanks

19th April 2006, 7:26 PM	#11
nastas Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 244	Heres another 2 i took while i was at it. The first 1 came out too blurred and the second one i wasnt happy with the how far out of frame the car was. Third one was a mixture of everything. It was interesting to watch how the ducks walked up the road inside the safety line untill they got to the spot where they wanted to cross. They then sat on the line waiting for traffic to pass and then when it was clear one of the adult ducks crossed infront with the ducklings in the middle and the other adult at the back. Kinda reminded me of primary school when u went on excursions and ure teachers would watch youre every move.