In an English garden
Mandarin duck contemplating life
(Taken through the window)
HP PhotoSmart C945 (V01.67) 
Aperture f/3.1 ISO 200 Shutter 309/100000 Focal Length 6100/100 
Feb, 2016Views
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People's Choice in Unfiltered Photos of anything UK Photo Challenge
People's Choice in Waterfowl Photo Challenge
Peer Award
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Absolute Masterpiece
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Behind The Lens
Location
Bosham, in West Sussex, UK, near Chichester. I was living there at the time and this image was taken through the window into the back garden. The garden ran down to one of the many tidal creeks in Chichester harbour and so the duck was not actually very far from the water, but it was very unusual to see one like this in the middle of the garden!Time
It was taken in the early evening during the summer.Lighting
It was a typical English overcast day, but that has the good effect of making the lighting very even without any bright glare or shadows.Equipment
This was taken a few years ago with my first reasonably good digital camera, an HP Photosmart camera. It was taken from inside through the window, hand-held. I still have many excellent images taken with this camera, a few of which are uploaded to my Viewbug portfolio. This includes for example the shots of the Volvo Ocean Race taken in the Solent, but I think the mandarin duck is the best image and it has been the most successful.Inspiration
It was an unusual opportunity to take a shot of such a beautiful looking duck just standing on the grass and so I grabbed the chance. It shows the whole duck much better than when on the water. It also seemed to have a serene, thoughtful pose as though it was quietly surveying the scene and contemplating life! It was good that I was able to take it from inside as it was fairly close and there is no way it would have stayed quietly standing there if I had opened the door to go outside.Editing
Minimal, mainly just a bit of cropping and very slight adjustment to the brightness.In my camera bag
I now use a Canon EOS 70D with 18-55mm and 75-300mm lenses.Feedback
Getting this image was mainly just the classic thing of always looking out for opportunities to get good images that are often unexpected. This opportunity suddenly appeared, but did not last for more than a few seconds as the duck then moved off.
