Weeble, Day 1, first swim, rescued Mallard Duckling, hatched out in my closet incubator

Weeble... my new companion. I rescued this Mallard from work when he

was just an egg. He hatched out in my closet, and when I opened the

door one day... MAMMA! So he's provided me opportunities to

photograph up close and personal! Here.. he's one day old, first swim

in the kiddie pool. The scan is attrocious! The print is striking.

Thoughts?

Cute! Good straight forward shot. I felt the composition was too centered. I also think there is too much empty space in the shot, though the ripples help a bit. I would have preffered a tighter frame of the duck, reflection and some of the ripples - eliminating most of the space on the left. Alternately a wider perspective to include some other elements of interest in the environment - but I suppose you did not want to include any of the kiddie pool. Just a thought but it actually might be 'interesting' to see a shot of the duck in the kiddie pool. Best of luck with bringing up Weeble. I'm sure you will have a lot of opportunities to get interesting shots of him/her in the future.

Cute pic. Thanks for saving the little guy.

Hi Steph. I agree with Deepak's comments. Babies are really cute and fun to take pictures of. I'm sure you'll have lots of opportunities to take more shots as it grows up. A little sharper focus on the fuzzy feathers might help this shot. The water drop hanging from its beak is cute. I agree about shifting the duckling further to the left to a good rule of thirds position. I also agree that showing it in a baby pool would make a nice shot. Have fun, mommy!

Nice isolation of your subject. Simple and direct. The focus seems a bit fuzzy(pun intended)and I think if you move the subject out of center, you might strengthen your composition. Very nice shot.

I've got another shot in my folder of this set up, much tighter crop. The fuzzyness is a result of the scanner. The print is tack sharp. The original composition has him as a very small bird in a large pond. But I wanted to crop down to the reflection and the ripples, which result in the centering. Thanks for the comments!

Stephanie, this is a striking image! I would love to see the print of it. I am a little suprised to be saying this, but...I like this centered composition. It just works for me in this particular image. I am really a rule of thirds kind of guy when I am composing an image but the symetrical nature of this one is very pleasing to my eye. The colors are great! (cool greens and blues played against the warm tones of your little friend.) The image really works for me. I like it as is (minus the softness in the eye) very much. Nice Job!

Hi, Steph!! I like this just as it is!!!! And, if, as you say, the print is sharp and the scan is creating the softness, all the better!!!! Ordinarily the bullseye positioning is something I'd stay away from, but in this image the ripples extend to the edge of the image at either side, creating a sort of symmetry. I wouldn't change a thing! Just quacking dandy image!!

Hi again Steph. I have to tell you that your picture of Weeble grows on me as I keep seeing it while doing other things. He looks so small sitting in his rings all alone! That effect would probably be lost if he weren't centered, so maybe the photo works better the way it is.

Lovely expression you've captured here; the drop of water gives it the gold finish. There has been some debate here about the centered composition. I add a vote to the 'too centered' but for another reason, I noticed the reflection of the duckling in the water while scrolling down to read the thread. My eye was just lost in the vast amount of empty blue on top. I played a bit with different crops and find the panorama approach much stronger as you use the ripples in the water and the reflection at their full potential (I think). I include the image to see what do you think...

 

-regards,

 

Gerard.

 

PS: Your portfolio is great. How much time do you spend at the zoo?? I'd really love to go more often, but time is always constrained :-(. The feather shot is just plain brilliant!

I was looking at the print, and the reflection of Weeble in the water looks much stronger than on my monitor. The top blue is a little more aqua with a clearer defined edge between the colors. I cropped this right at the outer edge of the ripples where I wanted to show the impact he has on the openness around him.

On a personal note, he will be 10 weeks old on this friday Sept 6. He has a beautiful purple irridescent band of color on his wings, with gorgeous undersides of soft white. He is just learning to fly, today doing a 20' flight on his own, instead of the controlled landings I've been forcing on him!

 

I hope to get more shots of those wings, up close and in macro. I've a 300/f4 with 25 and 15 mm extension tubes which really get into the detail. I've been using Velvia 50 rated at 40 and Kodak E100vs to shoot them. Hopefully you'll see some great colors in the next batch of postings!

 

Thanks for all the feed back!

 

Steph

 

 

PS Gerard.. I try to get to the zoo at least one weekend day/month.. more when I'm on a roll!

Hi Stephanie.. I like Weeble and his reflection.

I see cute, tiny, and fragile. Great use of the 300mm. Wait till you see the shots of his first birthday! Well done!

I love this photograph. The ripple is wonderful, as is the water droplet forming under the beak. I generally prefer off-center compositions, but in this case the ripples almost require the subject to be centered. As it happens, though, it's the head that's centered, so that most of the duckling appears in the left half of the frame. I can't say whether I'd like him to be in sharper focus. There's a softness that's really quite nice.

7/7

Adorable

I love your photo. Is really cute.

Weeble duck, is just precious. I personally think the shot is perfect just the way it is. The reflection, the ripples, the sparkling droplet on the tip of his beak, and the pronounced line thru his eye really stand out for me. Most of all his fragility and tender soft innonence speak the loudest for me in this photo. Thanks for sharing with all of us!

 

 

Good capture