![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/shoveler-2539-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"shoveler-2539-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nA grab shot that worked out pretty well. Usually my grab shots are nothing but garbage.<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning while I was photographing Hooded Mergansers up close I’d set my aperture to f\/10 to have more depth of field, especially because I was often trying to get two of them sharp in the same photo. The mergansers and other ducks were confined to a fairly small amount of open water which was bordered by a thin layer of ice.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/10, 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 When this male Northern Shoveler in nonbreeding plumage unexpectedly flew in to land on the fairly small patch of open water all I had time to do was aim and fire without adjusting any camera settings; i.e. a grab shot. He was so close that this photo is full frame (uncropped) except for a fairly narrow slice taken off the left for composition purposes.<\/p>\n If you look very carefully below and slightly behind the duck you can see the demarcation line between the thin ice and open water (with bits of ice floating in it) as an arc of different colored blue. The tip of his tail appears to be touching that line, or nearly so. The shoveler barely passed the ice before landing in the water so his aim was right on the mark.<\/p>\n Lady Luck was glued to my shoulder for this grab shot as evidenced by the following:<\/p>\n The shoveler isn’t tack sharp but I think he’s sharp ‘enough’, whatever that is. And when I factor in degree of difficulty it’s a photo I was happy to get.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A grab shot that worked out pretty well. Usually my grab shots are nothing but garbage.<\/p>\n\n