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| Ring-necked Duck: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS + 1.4 extender-ISO 400-1/800 Sec. f 8.0 |
I encountered several species of ducks during my
recent trip to Middle Creek, but as is so often the case they were too
far to obtain the best portraits . Most of the photos shown today are
severely cropped in addition to using the 600mm F4 with 1.4x extender.
All of the photos were taken in the pothole across Hopeland Road from
Middle Creek Lake. The first three were taken with the 5D MK III, while
the 70D was used for the last one.
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| Wood Duck: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS + 1.4 extender-ISO 400-1/800 Sec. f 8.0 |
Most ducks at this pot hole do not fly at the sight
of humans , but they tend to keep their distance when people are moving
about on the roadside. Human activity was so great on Saturday and
Sunday that waterfowl were usually some distance away, so I mostly shot
video with the GH3 and the 70D, both of which can give good results on
waterfowl in the far reaches of the pothole. This is because of the 3x
Crop mode on the 70D, which gives the 600mm and 1.4 extender a 35mm
equivalent focal length of 4,032mm if my figures are correct. ETC mode
on the GH3 works much the same way.
There was much less
human activity on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which made still
photography more feasible and it worked quite well to park the vehicle
along the edge of the road and use it as a blind. I prefer to use a
tripod when possible, but it worked well to shoot handheld, resting the
barrel on the lens on the window sill of the vehicle and with image
stabilization engaged. Waterfowl came to decent range at times, but
mostly it was still a bit on the far side.
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| Widgeon: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS + 1.4 extender-ISO 400-1/1250 Sec. f 8.0 |
I have filmed and photographed waterfowl for years,
but had not gotten a decent still photo of a Bufflehead until Monday
when several came swimming by and I took the photo below of a male with
the 600mm and 1.4x extender on the 70D. It is still cropped quite a bit
to get the composition that I want. The end result isa 257 dpi 12x8
file which makes an excellent quality print.
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| Male Bufflehead: Canon 70D-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS + 1.4 extender-ISO 400-1/800 Sec. f 8.0 |
Tuesday brought a change in the weather with a
mixture of snow and rain for most of the day. I will try to post photos
of the activity that day within the next few days.
Originally published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
