![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/mallard-2588-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"mallard-2588-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nA first for me.<\/p>\n
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1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Three days ago, just after the sun went behind a cloud, I spotted this male Mallard coming in to land on an open spot in the thin ice right in front of me. In such poor light I didn’t think I had much chance to get him sharp enough in flight but I tried anyway and I think the result is more than acceptable..<\/p>\n When this shot was taken he was too close for my big lens but thankfully I had my ‘baby lens’ in my hands when it happened. Given the lighting conditions I like the photo quite a lot, in part because I’ve never before captured this flight posture in a head-on approach and I think it’s pretty neat.<\/p>\n When I first saw the photo I cursed the timing of the cloud and poor light but the more I think about it the more I think the resulting diffuse light may have been a plus rather than a minus. Had there been direct sunshine on the bird with his wings enveloping his head like this his head almost certainly would have been in deep shade and most likely I’d have trashed the shot. I’m sure I like this photo better than I would the alternative in ‘better’ light.<\/p>\n To be honest the thing I’m most disappointed about in the photo is the part of a second Mallard at the bottom of the frame that you can’t see because I cloned it out. I can nearly always resist the temptation of cloning unwanted elements out of my photos but this time I was seduced.<\/p>\n In my view disclosing what I’ve done mitigates my transgression but it doesn’t completely exonerate it.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A first for me.<\/p>\n