MBatchellor

Duck Walk

The little Mandarin duck at the pond seems to have moved on to explore new places but I still have hundreds of photos of him!...
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The little Mandarin duck at the pond seems to have moved on to explore new places but I still have hundreds of photos of him!
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Mar, 2016

Views

1819

Likes

+178

Awards

Top Shot Award 22

Amateur Winner Animals And Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Animals And Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest

Peer Award

+36

Top Choice

+20

Superb Composition

+17

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

Superior Skill

All Star

Genius

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This beautiful little drake became quite popular in Texas earlier this year when he uncharacteristically took up residence with a bunch of Canada geese at Centennial Park in Irving. For several weeks in early 2016, photographers came from all over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas to photograph the Mandarin because he is not indigenous to these parts. This guy is more likely found in Eastern Asia, Japan, China, and parts of Russia.

Time

The first two times I went to Centennial Park looking for the Mandarin, he was a no-show. So I got up early one damp overcast Saturday morning and didn't need to search. There he was with a flock of photographers following him around with lenses the size of baseball bats. There were tripods everyone, people laying in the grass and

Lighting

Lighting was dull. It was cloudy and cold and I really didn't think I'd be able to manage the light. But I was fortunate to have a bright duck against dull grass and one uber-helpful photographer who was very good at predicting the movement of the clouds. As they would start to open, he would shout at the rest of us, "here comes the sun, adjust your ISO's!" and as clouds began to cover the sun, he would should, "here come the clouds, adjust your ISO's!". It was like a giant celebrity party for the Mandarin Duck and we, photographers, were the paparazzi. As it turns out, when I went back a few days later, the lighting was perfect and I got some beautiful shots then, as well. We only had to look for the geese and there was the Mandarin.

Equipment

I used my Tamron 600mm lens on my Canon 7D Mark II which was a bit of an issue when trying to shoot the Mandarin duck without all his geese friends and, since there were so many photographers, I accidentally caught a lot of them in my shots as well!

Inspiration

There's a wonderful Facebook group called "Birds of Texas" for those of us in this great state that like to look at and photograph birds. Somebody spotted the Mandarin at Centennial Park in Irving and word spread. For three weeks, that Facebook page was saturated with photos of the bird they affectionately named Manny. But then, one day he was gone. His geese friends remained but he moved on. There's much speculation that he was an escaped pet or zoo animal. I have been told that there are a few groups of free-flying feral mandarins in the United States including a population in North Carolina and one in Sonoma County, California. I've also since found out that people order these beautiful birds online and put them in their private ponds. This particular bird could have been one of those. However he arrived, this bird enjoyed great notoriety for the time he was here, even gracing the local news because he was drawing so many people to the park.

Editing

Post-processing is my Achilles heal. I am TERRIBLE at post-processing. However, the light was so poor when I shot this particular photo that I did adjust the exposure in Lightroom. I need lessons. Badly. I may be one of the only photographers left on the planet that does not use or even understand Photoshop. I'm not against post-processing but my pet-peeve is over-processed nature photos. When somebody alters what the naked eye sees to the point that the photo is no longer what they shot, I lose interest. An example would be a popular photo of a starling floating around the internet that is so purple and green, it looks like computer animation. Starlings feathers are a gorgeous spectrum of colors in the sun but they don't look like melted crayons on the sidewalk.

In my camera bag

I always carry my Canon 7D Mark II, my Rebel T3, and all my lenses. I have no idea what I might want to use depending on what I run across. I also grab my Tamron 600mm and monopod before I leave the house. I need a good tripod but, in the mean time, I grab my crummy one!

Feedback

My camera bag stays packed. I never know when somebody will call and ask for a prom photo, baby photo, or somebody spot something at a wildlife refuse or park and post about it. I've been known to to jump in my car and drive clear across Texas to see a bird! My best advice is to anyone is to keep shooting. There are some things about photography that simply must be experienced to actually learn it. We can talk about, read about it, and watch all the YouTube videos we want but until but the best education comes from clicking that shutter. And, since digital developing is free, you can take hundreds of shots using different camera settings until you figure out what works!

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MBatchellor

Duck Walk

The little Mandarin duck at the pond seems to have moved on to explore new places but I still have hundreds of photos of him!... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow MBatchellor

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The little Mandarin duck at the pond seems to have moved on to explore new places but I still have hundreds of photos of him!...
Read more

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Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.