Young woman and her horse.

This portrait of a young, pretty woman and her horse is from a Spring portrait session.  Middle of the afternoon with a mostly overcast sky so we didn't have to worry about harsh shadows and squinty eyes.  It was quite chilly and although this girl was only lightly dressed she never complained, and we were outside for a long time.  The horse had spirit!  It made things a little difficult as she was in almost constant motion and did not want to stand in one spot.  Fortunately, we were in the middle of a field and I just moved and circled with them,  constantly shooting.  But it reminded me more of shooting sports instead of making a portrait.

Canada goose in descending flight.

A Canada goose descending with cupped wings.  I don't often get nice shots of the geese, mostly because I don't have any goose decoys.  I see them fairly often but not in the same numbers as the ducks.  This goose came in just before sunset with its mate.  I got a couple shots of the pair when they were further out but when they got closer I had to choose one to follow.  The two were not close enough to each other to keep them in the same photo.

Their approach is much more deliberate and predictable than that of the ducks so it is easier to track them.  Plus, they are big targets!

High-speed Maneuver

A drake mallard duck in a high speed, airborne turn.  I was tracking this duck as he descended towards me and suddenly he rolled to the side and changed direction.  Notice that he is still maintaining high speed.  Also, his head stays level with the horizon as his body rolls with this maneuver.  Pretty impressive flying skills.  After I got this shot he immediately righted himself, put on the brakes and descended normally.

Bluebill Ducks

This sequence shows a pair of Bluebill ducks (Lesser Scaup) coming in low over water for a landing.  Drake on the left, hen on the right.  I had wanted to photograph a large flock of these birds coming in to decoys but never got the chance this spring.  The bluebills stop on Lake St. Clair on their way north but do not stay long.  I was fortunate to see this pair on Saturday but I'll have to wait until next year for a chance at a flock.

I had two dozen bluebill decoys on the water and these two came in nicely just before 9:00am.  About 33 degrees F. and a 15 knot north wind.

Too Close!

Two mallard ducks flying too close to each other.  As the ducks descend at high speed their relative positions are constantly changing.  A video would clearly show this but the static photograph does not.  I was following these two drakes as they were coming in and they had maintained a safe distance from each other when suddenly one veered toward the other.  I was fortunate to get the shot at the point of near collision.

Mallard ducks in flight-Composite

This is a composite image consisting of several separate photographs of mallard ducks descending from the sky.  I've spent considerable time this early spring getting some nice photos.  But I haven't been able to get photographs of large flocks.  I decided to manufacture my own flock with selected photos of singles and small groups.  I have enough material to work with that I may decide to do more of these, unless I can get lucky enough to get a real flock.