Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Bull Sprig

A drake Pintail duck approaching over the water.  I was hidden on a small island with decoys in front of me.  There were more pintails in the air than anything else.  This drake came in perfectly, low and into the breeze.  Full spring plumage; notice the tail feather that gives them the name.
Temperature was at the freezing point at dawn with 15 mph wind.  I was physically comfortable but it was difficult to follow the ducks with the camera due to my heavy clothes and confining position.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Mallard duck in flight.

Drake mallard duck in flight with wings locked in a glide.  He is descending to a landing and is almost at eye level.  Interesting to catch him with his mouth open as he calls.  Difficult to track with the camera as the airspeed is great;  he hasn't begun to put on the brakes yet.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Canada goose in flight.

A close-up of a Canada goose in flight.  What a lucky morning!  In the area where I usually am photographing ducks I will sometimes see geese in the distance but rarely do they come within range of the camera.  This single came in all alone and eventually landed among some ducks.  He is shown here with his wings locked and gliding in to a landing.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Drake mallard duck in flight.

A drake mallard duck in a rapid descent.  Wings cupped and one foot deployed to help control direction.  He appears to be looking directly at me and as I looked through the lens I thought he might actually bump me.  He had a lot of airspeed and was past me in an instant.  Totally cool.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Mallard ducks in flight.

A pair of mallard ducks in flight, descending together in a glide with their wings locked.  The spring mating season has begun and the ducks are up and down much more frequently.  I like to be out shooting during this period because of the increased opportunities to capture images of flying ducks.  For this shot I was positioned in front of a creek so the birds were coming in over my head.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Pheasant Hunt-2

Another photograph from the European-style pheasant shoot.  This bird was low and just came through the line of trees in the background.  The rooster appears to have turned his head to look right at me.
This type of shot does not always work out.  The focusing point has to remain tightly on the bird or else the camera may switch focus to the trees.  The photograph may lead one to think that the bird is in a slow, relaxed glide but these birds are moving quickly!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Pheasant Hunt

I recently covered a pheasant hunt at a private hunt club.  The birds were released European style and flew towards the hunters.  It offered great opportunities to get photographs of the birds in flight.  The weather was bitter cold and windy.  The morning started mostly cloudy but cleared a while later.  This is one of the prettiest shots where the rooster was not only close, but the sky was the bluest.  Very challenging to track the birds and keep them in focus.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Downhill giant slalom ski race-3

A giant slalom skier passing a gate.  This was shot from the same position as the previous post but aiming more to the left.  Sadly, the roof of the starting shack and a light pole are in the background.  It's a nice angle for capturing good action but the skiers are coming by awfully fast.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Downhill giant slalom ski race-2

This sequence of photos of a giant slalom skier was taken the same day as the previous post but later in the day on a different course.  There was a relatively flat area behind the skier and I was positioned just below the crest.  I had hoped I would be getting the skiers coming directly at me but they had begun their turn before I could see them.  I did not want to move higher because the starting gates and other distracting things would have been in the background.  Anyway, the skiers had good speed here and show aggressive form.