{"id":55168,"date":"2017-12-27T06:07:27","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T13:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=55168"},"modified":"2017-12-27T08:18:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-27T15:18:15","slug":"a-mallard-and-my-attempt-at-the-nearly-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/27\/a-mallard-and-my-attempt-at-the-nearly-impossible\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mallard And My Attempt At The Nearly Impossible"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><em>Note: The &#8220;photo-geekiness&#8221; of this post runs thick and deep so I&#8217;m sure it will be way\u00a0too much for many of my readers but hopefully it&#8217;ll be of at least some interest to photographers.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It&#8217;s so very frustrating for bird photographers\u00a0to have a great bird fly across\u00a0in front of us when we don&#8217;t see it in time to\u00a0locate\u00a0it through\u00a0our viewfinder, focus and shoot. So some of us occasionally, and usually instinctively, try\u00a0something else that doesn&#8217;t require so much time. It&#8217;s chances of success are virtually nil but some of us can&#8217;t resist attempting it anyway.<\/p>\n<p>But first I&#8217;ll try to explain why success using that method is nearly always the impossible dream.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"50684\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/14\/the-highs-and-lows-of-my-morning-on-antelope-island\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1502613080&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;700&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"wilson&amp;#8217;s phalarope 9877 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-50684\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-9877-ron-dudley-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>A mixed flock of phalaropes on Antelope Island. A typical photo taken with a &#8220;normal&#8221; lens might look something like this.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For obvious reasons most\u00a0bird photographers shoot with high-powered lenses. A standard or &#8220;normal&#8221; lens is defined as a lens that\u00a0gives a field of\u00a0view that appears &#8220;natural&#8221; to a human observer. That lens is usually about 50mm for 35mm cameras and allows us to see about 46\u00b0 of what&#8217;s in front of us. Liken it to looking forward without any visual restrictions &#8211; what you see is what you photograph when you push the shutter. It&#8217;s a little like a shotgun approach to photography because our &#8220;pattern&#8221; spreads out very quickly. It&#8217;s easy to keep our subject in the field of view but\u00a0unless it&#8217;s\u00a0 extremely close to the photographer it will be very small in the frame and have very little detail.<\/p>\n<p>But the situation changes dramatically\u00a0with high-powered lenses. With a 300mm lens (for example)\u00a0we see and photograph\u00a0only 8.25\u00b0 of what&#8217;s in front of us (as opposed to 46\u00b0 for the &#8220;normal&#8221; 50mm lens) so now we&#8217;ve switched from a shotgun to a rifle and our aim must\u00a0be much more precise. With my usual gear (500mm lens, 1.4 teleconverter and 1.6 cropped sensor)\u00a0I&#8217;m shooting at a whopping 1120mm so it&#8217;s a little like\u00a0photographing through a very long and rigid pipe that flares only slightly near its end. At those focal lengths our aim must be\u00a0extremely precise to get the subject in frame and that doesn&#8217;t even include the problems of getting sharp focus on the bird, getting the exposure right and having enough shutter speed to prevent motion blur.<\/p>\n<p>So, when we don&#8217;t have enough time to look through our viewfinders, locate the subject in flight, focus on it and then fire the shutter button some of us occasionally try something different. From my days on the Montana farm as a kid with my .22 rifle I call it a &#8220;hip shot&#8221;. Without looking through the viewfinder I simply point my lens in the general direction of the bird and push the shutter (&#8220;spray and pray&#8221;).\u00a0Chances of me having the bird in frame are in the &#8220;snowball in hell&#8221; category, not to mention\u00a0getting it sharp. I&#8217;ve\u00a0tried that method spontaneously and sporadically\u00a0for 10 years now and <em>never once\u00a0<\/em>completely succeeded.<\/p>\n<p>But two days ago\u00a0I\u00a0darned near did!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"55169\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/27\/a-mallard-and-my-attempt-at-the-nearly-impossible\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1514219225&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;700&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"mallard 0932 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-55169 size-full\" title=\"mallard-0932-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While photographing birds through my pickup window\u00a0at a local pond this Mallard came from\u00a0out of nowhere from my right. Without taking the time to look through my viewfinder I pointed my lens in its general direction and fired off two shots. This is one of\u00a0them, presented full frame (uncropped). When I saw this photo on my camera screen my heart actually skipped a beat. I had the bird in frame without clipping anything, I loved the flight pose and the\u00a0colors and the\u00a0duck looked &#8220;sharp enough&#8221; on my screen. I hoped to be able to add canvas on the left so after I cropped it the composition would be acceptable.<\/p>\n<p>But of course I was disappointed. When I got home and looked at the image on my big screen the photo had the following insurmountable problems:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the Mallard was a little too soft to be salvaged. Here I&#8217;ve applied extra sharpening during processing and it&#8217;s still too soft<\/li>\n<li>the bird is too close to the left edge of the frame. I could attempt to add canvas on the left to solve that problem but&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>there&#8217;s an additional problem.\u00a0Based on the water ripples the\u00a0image\u00a0doesn&#8217;t look\u00a0level and rotating the photo to achieve apparent level would cut off half of the duck&#8217;s head.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But dammit I came very close!<\/p>\n<p>Close enough that I&#8217;ll probably\u00a0try this method more often now (diving kingfishers come to mind). And if I ever succeed you can be sure you&#8217;ll hear about it.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe this &#8220;impossible dream&#8221; can actually be achieved. If any of my readers have ever succeeded with this type of shot I&#8217;d enjoy hearing about it. <\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/27\/a-mallard-and-my-attempt-at-the-nearly-impossible\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,6,334,1172],"tags":[3156,721,3774,146,1937,213,3773,3772],"class_list":["post-55168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island","category-bird-photography-methods","category-birds","category-mallard-waterfowl","tag-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-telephoto-lenses","tag-bird-photography-methods-2","tag-field-of-view","tag-flight","tag-hip-shot","tag-mallard","tag-normal-lens","tag-spray-and-pray"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mallard-0932-ron-dudley.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-elO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}