{"id":133762,"date":"2023-04-12T05:36:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T11:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=133762"},"modified":"2023-04-12T10:17:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T16:17:59","slug":"northern-shoveler-drake-taking-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/12\/northern-shoveler-drake-taking-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Shoveler Drake Taking Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shades of yesterday’s Cinnamon Teal post<\/a><\/span><\/span> but this time you get a different species and a curve ball.<\/p>\n

Cinnamon Teals weren’t the only ducks I was trying to photograph during takeoff and flight two days ago at Bear River MBR. I need all the practice I can get so I was working on shovelers too.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t think shovelers are usually quite as quick at taking off as Cinnamon Teals but they’re close. This drake was taking off from land rather than water. Since his feet were pushing down against a solid surface it probably increased the speed of his takeoff so I was lucky to get him on the first downbeat of his wings.<\/p>\n

That wing position revealed the stunning colors on his left wing to complement the iridescent colors on his head and neck. His bright yellow eye and orange feet and legs only add to the extensive color palette. I count at least a dozen distinct colors on this duck. Yeah, it’s a busy and rather unattractive setting but I think it helps to make the colorful duck stand out.<\/p>\n

I’ve done some dinking around with this version of the photo during processing.<\/p>\n

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This is what it really looked like. Do you see the difference?<\/p>\n

The drake wasn’t alone – his mate was with him and she took off at the same time he did. But she wasn’t sharp and her head was mostly in shade so I cropped most of her out. I say “most” of her because I couldn’t crop out the end of her bill and still have a composition I like so that’s her bill poking into the frame at upper right.<\/p>\n

In the first version of the photo above I cloned it out. I think it’s distracting.<\/p>\n

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Here’s all of her in a different crop of the same photo.<\/p>\n

When I dink around with my photos in Photoshop (which I seldom do) I think full disclosure is the only honest way to go.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Note:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

My definition of “dinking around in Photoshop” = removing or adding elements, changing colors significantly, composites, swapping backgrounds and the like. “Normal processing” such as cropping, sharpening, exposure adjustments, white balance adjustments and dust removal need not be disclosed.<\/em><\/p>\n

What do I do during “normal processing?<\/em><\/p>\n