Mandarin 1986--resubmission--

It was fall of 1986 and Expo was finished in Vancouver. I'd never

used flash before I had bought my two T90's and their 300 TL flashes

that summer. And now I was learning. And learning I was doing about

this rather wonderful bird as I chased it over hill and dale that

fall, feeding it raw peanuts whenever I found it. Yes, we'd become

friends by the time this shot was taken, one cold dusk. The bird was

swimming back and forth in front of me, maybe 8 feet away as I sat

with wet feet at water level. I knew that the fast sync speed of the

Tank would not allow the little ambient light to expose the

background. I also knew that I could use a small f-stop for sharpness

and depth of field...focusing was very difficult. And so I threw the

bird another peanut. It caught it in the air. And then it seemed to

thank me as it finally swam to where I wanted it to, just when I was

ready. And I made this shot; after trying for twenty or so rolls to

do so

20 Rolls! Flipp'n eck!

Well worth it all the same I would say.

What a great discription of how you achieved this image and what an image it is. It is so sharp and the d.o.f is amazing. I love everything about it, the reflection is good too. Great shot, well done.

This is a Gorgeous shot, and I think the Mandarin is one of the prettiest birds. I tried to take a few shots of Manadarins recently, but I didn't achieve anything like this. It's interesting that the reflection doesn't have any of the pretty colors in the neck due to the agle of the light. You can't get reflections like that in PS.

Excellent.

gorgeous tonal gamut! amazing bit of blue in there... crispy crispy image! wow.

"Man who feed Mandarin duck have bright future" Lucky number 77

damn ducks! but this one is so beautiful. looks like a plastic one. great capture

Pin sharp...superb !

It is very interesting to know all the work that went into this shot. I wish more photographers would share this sort of information. I guess I could do the same.

one of the greatest parts about photo.net is not only the pictures, but the stories one photographer shares with another about their trials at producing one image. few people really do appreciate work like this. btw thanks for the comments. i've left posts explaining some of my work. when i went to look at your stuff, i realized i've seen your work and commented on some shots like "dillie". glad to see how a community we are.

Great shot. Beautiful colors.

Color, motion, texture, patterns...what doesn't this image have? The only quibble I have is that there appears to be an area of softness at the tops of the folded wings. However, other than that - Awesome!!!

 

Craig A. Rose // www.carosephoto.com

by the way: your portrait on the first side :-)!!!!

Wow- so sharp! striking

Excellent sharpness and color.

Thank you for this wonderful image. I never seen such a duck before so the pleasure is double. This is a 'National Geographic' material.