Some duck shots

[BmDubb]

So this is my FIRST attempt at capturing LIVE wildlife.. It wasn't very easy. These ducks were kind of skittish. I put on my 55-200mm Lense and got down to there level.. I Know these aren't the best. But I thought for my first shots on LIVE wild animals they turned out decent.. And I thought Id share. Hope you like em :mrgreen:

* Female Mallard Ducks *

 

[BmDubb]

Anyone for CC?

 

[inkybutton]

The weeds are very distracting. Try shooting from a different angle or wait until it's moved to a more pleasant area - though I suppose it's kinda hard to considering that it's moving and you don't want to scare it... etc.
Neither of them are focused properly.

 

[JayCanon]

In the first image, though his feet were probably submerged, they're at the very bottom of the frame and appear to be cut off, along with the tip of the tail feathers. It seems like with so much extra room at the top and left of the frame, that could have been avoided.
I really like the second one, though! While I am viewing these on my li'l 8.9" netbook right now, I really don't see anything wrong with the focusing. The exposure and focus look good to me. Well captured!

One of the challenges of nature photography is that you often have very little control over the surroundings, or even composition. Wild animals are going to do what they want and go where they want. Perfect composition and eliminating distracting elements is sometimes impossible, even with cropping. You just have to work with what you're given, and in the second image I think you did that well. I stay away from critiquing things that you have no control over.

I think it's also worth mentioning that I usually have little trouble getting ducks to walk right up to me. They must be bribed, of course. If you're quiet and still, you can lure them with bread. If you can get them within a few feet and give them a few minutes to understand that you mean them no harm, they'll often let you walk in circles around them, allowing you to fire away and have a little bit of control over composition.

 

[ecnal]

Both are too centered, and seem a tad out of focus.

JayCanon is right, though - they'll do what they do. My girlfriend and I feed the ducks down the street because they no longer migrate after all the tourists leave for summer, so we go down twice a week or so and make sure they have food all winter.

BREAD IS BAD! They may love it, but bread is not much more than empty calories for ducks. It's like a fat kid eating Doritos. They're not going to say 'no', but they don't know any better. Bread, especially during mating season can cause soft eggs and underdeveloped ducklings.

If you're going to feed ducks please do it right! Cracked corn is awesome for them - alot of crude protein and other things they need. A ten pound bag costs all of 4.30$ here. You can get it at farm and agricultural supply stores, wild bird stores, etc. Stop&Shop sells it too, but it's a tad more expensive - 5lbs for 3$. Plus it's alot more 'fair' to them because everyone gets some, and once you run out they'll continue to eat if for quite some time off the ground. Just reach in and throw it. They dont' mind getting rained on with corn.

There are a couple ducks that know us and will eat out of my hand no questions asked. They're great little wild-life friends.


....aaand that was my rant on ducks.