{"id":38451,"date":"2016-03-30T07:19:32","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T13:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=38451"},"modified":"2016-03-30T08:31:21","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T14:31:21","slug":"canvasback-a-goal-accomplished-and-an-addiction-reinforced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/30\/canvasback-a-goal-accomplished-and-an-addiction-reinforced\/","title":{"rendered":"Canvasback – A Goal Accomplished And An Addiction Reinforced"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u00a0worked harder at getting this (third)\u00a0shot than any other single image. Ever! It’s ugly but I love it.<\/p>\n

But first some background. Back in April of 2008 I was still a novice bird photographer. I hadn’t had my new 500mm lens for long and I was determined to learn how to use it better and improve my overall photographic skills. So when I had a rare opportunity to photograph feeding Canvasbacks up close near Farmington Bay WMA\u00a0I worked very hard at getting the most interesting, high quality images I could.<\/p>\n

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\"canvasback<\/p>\n

1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon 40D,<\/em>\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

The pond was shallow and the Canvasbacks were feeding in the mud at the bottom (by diving, not feeding from the surface)\u00a0so when they came back up their heads and necks were covered in a layer of thick mud, to the point that there usually wasn’t anything in those areas that was bare of mud except their blinking red eyes. In this image the only place where we can see the normal red color of the head and neck is a small area near the surface of the water.<\/p>\n

Canvasbacks are known as “the aristocrats of ducks” but these feeding birds were looking far from aristocratic. I spent almost as much time laughing as I did taking photos.<\/p>\n

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\"canvasback<\/p>\n

1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon 40D,<\/em>\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Usually these ducks were straining water out of the mud and food in their bills while they were still underwater but occasionally I would see it still happening just after they popped up to the surface. Here we see a stream of muddy water being forced out of the right side of his bill but often the water would come out both sides or even the front of the bill.<\/p>\n

At this point I made the decision that come hell or high water I was going to get a shot of one of the ducks just at the moment it popped to the surface. I had very specific goals for that shot in mind;<\/p>\n