Cold Sleep, a photo from Leicestershire, England

Photographer's Note

My contibution to great ducks of the world, this pair of hybrid mallards he has a dark blue head instead of the normal green. seen here on the frozen junction pool at the bottom of Foxton locks (see previous cannal boat pics). I had gone back to improve on some of the pics taken before on a very dull day, this time loads of sun but -6 deg C. (cold for round here)so the water is a little solid and no barges moving, not only that the sign posts seen leaning in going nowhere had been smashed to pieces by somebody clearing the site for a new visitors centre being built here.
back to the ducks, they were stood on the ice sleeping with all their feathers puffed up to keep the cold at bay doesnt say much about the bare feet.the sun was just strong enough to make the surface slick and reflective. they are fast asleep presumably having eaten all the spare sandwiches from a party of school children there to learn about the way cannals worked and the part they played in the industrialisation of the UK before good roads came along.
Adjustments to pic.
Open and check levels, darken it a fraction.
saturation +8
USM 130% X 1.9px rad. X threshold 1
crop to size at 72dpi and use save to web at 197K.
post to TE

Nobody ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

Eagle78 (1933) 2004-03-01 15:34

Really great image Robert!! Their standing is wonderful and your image is really sharp, with great colors, lots of details...and really love the reflexions on the ice working very well with your composition. One of my favourites now :)

Djib (426) 2004-03-01 15:46

Impressive walk-on-water ducks! I guess the circular polariser makes the frozen water look liquid. The colours and composition are great. The note adds a lot tho the interest of this photo. Thanks for sharing technical details so generously.

bullybeef53 (3365) 2004-03-01 16:05

Robert This is another one of your great photographs . The colors are extremely vivid and you have excellent notes as usual . I am fascinated by the colors of the ducks feet. Your photographs are at an extremely high level to which I strive .

veimann (1269) 2004-03-01 16:18

Very good shot! ) colors, sharpness, contrast, composition - everything is excellent. Even something to say. It pleases itself! :)

zimchris (403) 2004-03-01 16:27

Wonderful image. Well spotted.

Didi (61589) 2004-03-01 17:01

Ils n'ont pas froid aux pattes !
J'apprécie la très bonne netteté, l'éclairage latéral qui donne du relief aux sujets, ainsi que la saturation des couleurs.

They do not have cold in the legs! I appreciate very good clearness, the side lighting which gives relief to the subjects, as well as the saturation of the colors

Ebbe (9625) 2004-03-01 17:03

I keep waiting for him to slip and fall but nothing happends :o) A well balanced composition and lovely colors.

About cold feet, in my cosy warm car I once in the winter night passed an owl sitting bare feet on the end of a steel pole for a traffic sign in -20 C. He did not seem to mind though.

dominique (11414) 2004-03-01 17:17

Well considering, good composition and I like the colors, an original photograph.

didcreole (962) 2004-03-01 17:32

This picture is very sharp and these ducks are very funny. The male seems to take care on the sleep of its female.

mogens-j (56) 2004-03-01 18:07

Great picture Robert. Very sharp indeed, colours are great too. Thanks for a very informative note. - By the way,how do they get off again - do they simply stand there waiting for the ice to break ;-))

steffleu (1397) 2004-03-01 18:10

Superbe !!!!
Vraiment très net , belles couleurs, très bon éclairage,exellent cadrage ! BRAVO !

Deus (928) 2004-03-01 18:32

Excelent image.
Since I appreciate a good challenge, I placed a WS of this image where I tweaked the 2 things I think are improveable on it. Unsaturated the duck´s legs back -8 (pre-selected them based on colour) and gave it a tiny bit of unsharp mask. Then I cropped it to a further symetric position, it looses the 4X3 aspect ratio, but the image really can´t be clipped at its bottom.
Hope you like it

[workshop] [compare]

Jeppe (18654) 2004-03-02 9:53

Simply a wonderful capture - a great contribution to the world of ducks indeed. I never seen this type (male) mallard before. Very good work Robert - thanks for sharing.

cecile (4193) 2004-03-02 14:15

E X C E L L E N T tout est excellent sur cette photo, la netteté, la couleur, la lumière, et biensur nos amis les canards!!! on dirait que le male engueule la femelle parcqu'elle dort.... trop extra!!! bravo

venne (2759) 2004-07-05 1:05

Nice shot, good composition. I like how they are standing over the ice.

Photo Information

Copyright: Robert Brown (RobBrown) (1797)
Genre: Luoghi
Medium: Colore
Date Taken: 2004-03-01
Categories: Natura
Camera: Sony DSC F707, Carl Zeiss 2.2-48.5, Digital JPEG 100, hama cicular polarizer 58mm
Esposizione: f/8, 1/160 secondi
Versione Foto: Versione Originale, Workshop
Tema(i): Mallards [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2004-03-01 15:29
Preferiti: 3 [vista]