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Swimming in reflections


Swimming in reflections
Photo Information
Copyright: Nel Diepstraten (NellyD) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 362 W: 0 N: 697] (2745)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-12-09
Camera: Canon 350 D
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2006-12-17 12:33
Viewed: 472
Points: 11
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
On a cold but sunny saterday afternoon, I took my camera and went for a walk to the Carnisse Grienden. I came across a pond with some ducks, and for me they are always a nice subject to take pictures of. I saw this female swimming all by herself, while the rest of her duckfriends were on the other side of the pond, probarly waiting for her to join them.
And she did!

Some info on mallard ducks from the internet:

The mallard is undoubtably the most recognized waterfowl in the world. The familiar duck morphology is complemented with a iridesent blue speculum on the wings in both sexes. On the male, the notable characteristics are the green iridesent plumage on the head and neck, and curled black feathers on the tail. The female's plumage is drab brown.

Most mallard hens breed as yearlings, but they may not have much success; studies show that older hens have much lower duckling mortality than yearlings. Pair bonding starts as early as October and continues through March. Mallard males leave the hen soon after mating occurs. The hen usually lays 9 -13 eggs in a nest on the ground near a body of water. When the ducklings hatch after 26-28 days, the hen leads them to water and does not return to the nest.

After the breeding season, mallards form flocks and migrate from northern lattitudes to warmer southern areas. There they wait and feed until the breeding season starts again. Some mallards, however, may choose to stay through the winter in areas where food and shelter are abundant; these mallards make up a resident populations.

The familiar "quack" of ducks is from the female mallard--it is named the "decrescendo call", and can be heard for miles. A female will give the call when she wants to bring other ducks to her, such as her ducklings, and as a result it is also known as the "hail call

Mallards consume a wide variety of foods, including vegetation, insects, worms, gastropods and arthropods, although they are not restricted to these. They also take advantage of human food sources, such as gleaning grain from crops.
samuraicamera, crystal69, broadcaster has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Shoot_Score: Hi Jay,NellyD 1 02-17 12:33
To crystal69: Hi Muhamed,NellyD 1 12-17 13:02
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Critiques [Translate]

The two black lines are a little distracting and its a little small in the frame.

excellent sharpness and details here Nel :)
i think the photo is sharp enough for a closer crop to bring the subject more into view :)

Hi nel very nice sea shot with good combination and composition. I make a workshop too hopefully you may like it. TFS.
muhamad

Hi Nel.
A very nice capture here, I like it texture of water.
Nice work, well done.

Yasin.

  • Great 
  • Fons Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1299 W: 2 N: 202] (15596)
  • [2006-12-18 3:19]

Een eenzaam eendje op een mooie waterspiegel.

Nel, this is a gorgeous shot.

I love the way the ripples and reflections cause moire patterns. I like the photo and think it is a great one
to "play with. As far as compo, I would recommend taking the
duck "off centre". Your shot allows a lot of options. I will show two choices... Hope you like, J.

PS I forgot to enter that I scaledup the cropped WS photos to 120%

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