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Dave R. | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Ducks and Geese tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Ducks and Geese

Photos taken at the Grand River in Cambridge using my Canon 40D and 100-400mm L telephoto lens. The Canada Goose close ups were taken at Riverside Park; the geese there are used to people and are very tame. I should have used some fill flash on some of these shots since they were heavily backlit by the snow, plus the flash would have provided a catchlight in the geese's eyes. The flying geese and ducks were taken at a scenic viewpoint over the Grand River just off Blair Road in Cambridge. Here I used Shutter Priority at 1/1500 sec and ISO 200 (and later 400). Because of distance these shots are heavily cropped. The aperture was always wide open for such a fast shutter speed (f5.6 at 400mm) and relatively low ISO due to the hazy conditions in the afternoon. Better I should have increased the ISO to a minimum of 800 or even 1600 and picked Aperture Priority of f8.0 (where this lens is sharpest; it's a little soft at f5.6). Better yet, it would be good to get closer to the flying subjects!
Canada Goose Pair.jpg
Canada Goose Pair.jpg
Canada Goose browsing.jpg
Canada Goose browsing.jpg
Canada Goose foraging.jpg
Canada Goose foraging.jpg
Canada Goose in the snow.jpg
Canada Goose in the snow.jpg
Canada Goose launch 2.jpg
Canada Goose launch 2.jpg
Canada Goose launch.jpg
Canada Goose launch.jpg
Canada Goose reflections.jpg
Canada Goose reflections.jpg
Canada Goose stretching.jpg
Canada Goose stretching.jpg
Canada Goose walking.jpg
Canada Goose walking.jpg
Duck launch.jpg
Duck launch.jpg
Mallards in flight.jpg
Mallards in flight.jpg