So flat.....

[lizheaemma]

Today in Northern Ontario the sun sets at 5:05pm.
The sky is totally overcast. I get off work at 4:00
bring a hat and mitts and boots cause it a chilly 15F
or -10C. The light was so soft and flat, but it didn't
matter cause I was actually getting out and shooting.
Not in love with either of these, buy I like to get out
and see what I can get in less then ideal conditions!

C&C welcome.....

These two ducks don't really seemed too concerned
that they aren't the same, the male being a wood duck
and the female a mallard. This guy had been one of only
two wood ducks that I have ever seen here. He has been
here for over two years and gets more and more tame every
time I see him.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Those are some pretty neat ice formations!

 

[BekahAura]

Wow the first one is beautiful! But why the shallow dof? And why did you choose to make the bottom in focus? I wish you shot this at f/22. You have a tripod? Go back tomorrow!

The light is beautiful in the first one, I'd hardly call it flat.

The 2nd one, yeah, flat. But cute duckies!

Keep Shooting!

 

[lizheaemma]

If I had shot at 22 it would have been really dark. It would have to too cold to set of a tripod, my fingers would have fallen off!

 

[Ballistics]

Wow the first one is beautiful! But why the shallow dof? And why did you choose to make the bottom in focus? I wish you shot this at f/22. You have a tripod? Go back tomorrow!

The light is beautiful in the first one, I'd hardly call it flat.

The 2nd one, yeah, flat. But cute duckies!

Keep Shooting!

f/22? What the... why?

 

[rexbobcat]

Wow the first one is beautiful! But why the shallow dof? And why did you choose to make the bottom in focus? I wish you shot this at f/22. You have a tripod? Go back tomorrow!

The light is beautiful in the first one, I'd hardly call it flat.

The 2nd one, yeah, flat. But cute duckies!

Keep Shooting!

f/22? What the... why?

That's what I think. The image quality would suffer because of diffraction. f/8 or f/10 would suffice.

 

[BekahAura]

Ok guys, so maybe I'm wrong about the f/22. I'm just saying I wish more was in focus... honestly if it really were me I'd probably shoot it at every f-stop possible. Then select my photo later.

@lizheaemma LOL. I could say something about having to sacrifice for photography... but who am I to talk? I won't even go outside to shoot when it's 30 degrees out, much less -10.

 

[djk]

Have you tried post-processing the pics to try and pull a little more out?

 

[Natalie]

Ha! Keep an eye on that pair of ducks... In a couple years you might find birds like this swimming around the pond:

Mallard x Wood Duck hybrid | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[lizheaemma]

It is an area that I want to revisit as well as other areas this winter... We have quite a bit of neat ice... That particular ice was in the rapids and I would have had to put my tripod in the water to take it as I was standing on rocks..... Next time I will go for greater range in my DOF.

 

[lizheaemma]

Ha! Keep an eye on that pair of ducks... In a couple years you might find birds like this swimming around the pond:

Mallard x Wood Duck hybrid | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Cool and I didn't think that they would be able to reproduce...

 

[Bend The Light]

Ha! Keep an eye on that pair of ducks... In a couple years you might find birds like this swimming around the pond:

Mallard x Wood Duck hybrid | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Cool and I didn't think that they would be able to reproduce...

Often the original pair can reproduce creating the hybrid, but the hybrid is then sterile...think that happens with mules, but may be wrong.

 

[MTVision]

Often the original pair can reproduce creating the hybrid, but the hybrid is then sterile...think that happens with mules, but may be wrong.

I believe you're right for the most part but I believe female ligers are able to reproduce. Only hybrid I've ever heard of that wasn't sterile. The offspring would be either a ti-liger or a Li-liger depending on what she mated with.

 

[Natalie]

I'm not sure if duck hybrids are sterile... I think if they did back-cross with one of the parent species, it might look so similar to that kind that you would just say it was just normal variation. There are lots of hybrid animals that are fertile though, even between different genera. For example, many North American snakes in the subfamily Lampropeltinae of the family Colubridae (which includes kingsnakes, gophersnakes, pinesnakes, and ratsnakes) can breed with each other and produce perfectly fertile offspring. This is common in captivity but not so much in the wild... It does happen though, here's a hybrid between a California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) and a Pacific Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer) found in the wild: http://californiaherps.com/snakes/images/gopherkingyolobhubbs.jpg

Oops, sorry for the thread diversion. I like the first shot quite a bit, it took me a while to figure out what it was. Perhaps the only thing I would have done differently is using a smaller aperture, so you get more of the ice (particularly around the first rock) in focus. The reflection on the water is beautiful!