Ducks

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

My new lens arrived in the post today.
Just a cheapy Sigma 70-300mm.
Nevertheless I had a beaut time at the Lake at Yowie Park today snapping pics of ducks ducks and more ducks.
The day was beautiful, the water was still and the sky reflected deep blue off the lake.
The autofocus was a bit off on a few of the pics, the camera couldn't choose between the duck and it's reflection on the water.
By the time you made it focus on the subject, the moment was gone.

[RB (Andrew)]

Nice shooting jjj, they all look nice and sharp.

[madtuna (Steve)]

Very nice!!

[Dennis]

Now with a subject title like that, one just has to have a look! A lovely set of photos Jeanette – they really bring out the character of these cute creatures. Some lovely colours and they all look very sharp and nicely exposed.

Can you select the Auto Focus (AF) point in the Canon 20D? On the 40D I select the central AF point and place it on the bird when the AF gets fooled by other stuff in the frame, such as reflections.

Cheers

Dennis

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Dennis, I sure I read something about that in the manual. I've been going through the manual learning the camera's functions on a "need to know" basis.
So much to learn, but the more I use it the more intuitive it will become.

All these photos were taken on fully automatic. Those duckies move too fast for me to fumble through the manual settings.

[Dennis]

Hi Jeanette

I’m sure you’ll have heaps of fun exploring the various options and custom functions on the 20D. A word of warning though; whilst some only last for a session, others are persistent, remaining effective even when you turn off the camera! I’ve been caught out recently.

Whilst playing around some while ago, I selected the “Highlight Priority Setting” which makes the camera devote more of its dynamic range to the tones between mid grey and white. Today, I discovered that I had been unknowingly shooting with this setting for the last few days!

Also, my colour space seems to have reverted back from Adobe RGB to the default sRGB?

Hmm, I need to keep my wits about me and look out for the warning signs!

Apparently, when “Highlight Priority Setting” is selected, the ISO speed display in the viewfinder changes from say, 400 to 4oo as a subtle warning.

Cheers

Dennis

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I hear you.
The first photo I took today, I had the timer on.
The next photo I changed to manual and the mirror locked up.

[GrahamL]

nice pics..they are cute .. and delicious when cooked right ..are you going to grab a couple soon ?

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

LOLOL
Teals don't taste as nice as the domestic breeds.

[AlexN]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

I hear you.
The first photo I took today, I had the timer on.
The next photo I changed to manual and the mirror locked up.

I get done by the old 'left the timer on' trick every time I use it..

Great shots, The reflections are great! I shoot ducks (photograph, not shoot shoot...) all the time, they are very photogenic birds..

As Dennis already mentioned, using the center (or any single) AF point is much easier than using the adaptive mode. It too me a while to get used to it since im in the process of switching from Nikon to Canon....

The manual explains how to do it very well and it increased my keep:delete ratio dramatically.

Just remember though to chose the right point for your composure if your using AF-Servo/AF-Focus. If you chose center, focus, then move the camera to compose the shot, it will continuously focus on the center point, rather than the subject.

[Kirkus (Kirk)]

I just received a new 55-250mm lens. I may need to seek out some ducks.

Very nice pics, Jeannette.

[GrahamL]

I'm actually a duck tragic ,we have two wild ones that come every
morning and demand to be fed..its also been noticed that while I regularly forget stuff when I go shopping I always remember duck food

[acropolite (Phil)]

Nice images jjj, the3rd one's my favourite.

[PCH (Paul)]

Nice images jjj,

on pic #4, how on earth did you get the duck to sit quietly right in the middle of that little system of rings while you took the snap?

Cheers,