Gortex is a pale imitation

[QuietOne]

Stood for a while watching these two yesterday. They were dunking themselves repeatedly. It's apparently part of the courting behavior. I was just fascinated with the way water sheeted off of them.

[Wicked Dark]

makes me cold just looking. you've caught that sheeting action well.

[Marko]

Cool birds, This might also look good with a tighter crop.

[Mad Aussie]

Good timing to get that sheeting.

[masp]

Nice shot! I agree with Marko - I wish I could see more detail on the birds. Maybe a longer lens would have been required though.

[QuietOne]

They actually made it easy to catch the sheeting action. They were at their routine long enough that I just kept shooting and figured I'd get something that turned out. I'd also spend some time throwing away a whole lot of shots.

Marko, I agree that this would look better with a tighter crop. It's the same problem as the hawk - I wasn't that close to them, and I'd cropped quite a bit already. I'm always hesitant to crop too drastically, because things get blurry after a certain point.

Masp, I'd love a longer lens, but I haven't managed to win the lottery yet. (Darn!) Maybe one long enough for some of the pictures I try for will make it into the budget in a year or so. But for detail, how's this?

(She was nesting. Between two garages. Can't understand why she'd glare at me like that)

[masp]

Masp, I'd love a longer lens, but I haven't managed to win the lottery yet. (Darn!) Maybe one long enough for some of the pictures I try for will make it into the budget in a year or so. But for detail, how's this?

Oh, this is amazing. The texture of the features is really nice. It's interesting that even though it looks like you are shooting in bright sunlight, the highlights look crisp but not blown out.

Maybe she's just curious about your camera rather than glaring. You're lucky to live in an area where there are ducks roaming around the residential areas. All we get are pigeons. Not that I have anything against them.

As for getting a longer lens, tell me about it. I've been researching dozens of lenses trying to find something inexpensive with good reach and image quality that won't feel like there's a brick attached to my camera.