Ducks in my Pool! NEX 7 with Tokina ATX 100-300/4 SD

[cooltouch]

Here's something you don't see every day. Yesterday, Mamma and Papa ducks and their ducklings decided to visit our pool. It was hard to get a head count on the ducklings, but there's at least 15 of them. They spent the afternoon in our pool and then disappeared. Dunno where they came from and dunno where they went to, but we haven't seen them since.

The ducks were constantly in motion, even the adults. I shot with the Tokina wide open at f/4. I used my NEX's focus peaking function, but because the ducks were in constant motion, about half my shots showed blurring, and I was shooting at about 1/500. Just goes to show you that even if you're using a shutter speed that is faster than the reciprocal of the focal length, you can still get blurring. Anyway, these were the best focused shots I managed out of about a dozen captures.

I have no idea what species ducks these are -- I've never seen this species before. Anybody know?

[KEO]

Interesting!

You're in Texas? I'm way up north, and I'm pretty sure we don't have any ducks like that up here.

[Lightshow]

The duck would be looking for food, not much food in a swimming pool.

24MP APS-C is quite demanding, 1/(focal length) isn't really enough to ensure no blur at long focal lengths, I was using 1/2(focal length) with my NEX-7 with decent results, if I was twitching more than normal I would bump it to 1/3(focal length).

I wish Sony would have added the minimum shutter speed fix that came in the A7II/A7rII to a firmware update for the NEX-7 and A7/A7r.

[pdccameras]

What a great surprise to find in your pool! I have found photographing duck families very difficult as well. Also, I have found a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 sec or faster is needed to stop the duck's motion - those little critters never stop moving in the water. The reciprocal shutter speed rule really only tries to account for photographer/camera movement, not subject movement.

Best,

Paul

[cooltouch]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I noticed, after looking at the photos again, that several of the images were blurry because the focus was off. I was shooting with that lens wide open, so the depth of field was pretty narrow. And with all that movement, the point of focus was constantly shifting. So I missed some. I should have probably bumped up the ISO and shot a few at least at f/8, but I wasn't thinking critically at the moment.

As for shooting the reciprocal, I was at almost double the focal length: 300mm and 1/500.

[Sciolist]

"Ducks in my pool" - That's got to be near the top of all time best Post subjects .


I think you may have had a visit from a family of Black-bellied whistling ducks, cooltouch. That's a nice sizeable and healthy looking brood. Obviously good, safe eating somewhere, but not in your pool obviously. I'd guess something spooked them in their usual habitat and the parents did what parents do and got them out. Just a guess. As the young'uns aren't flying, they shouldn't be too far away to be honest, even if out of sight. Do you have a body of fresh water nearby? Look around the trees there. They are fairly friendly things, so you shouldn't spook them too much if you come upon them again.

[cooltouch]

Thanks for the response, Sciolist, and for the identification. There are a couple of big dogs next door, but they're kept behind a fence. Other than that, I don't know what might have spooked them, if that's what got them over here. As for a food source, well, I don't know what this variety prefers. I know that ducks like insects, but except for the occasional fire ant pile here, we don't really have any obvious sources. No large bodies of water nearby either -- but by nearby I'm talking a few miles. I don't know what nearby might mean for a duck. If they want to stretch their wings a bit further, there are a couple of lakes around -- one about 15 miles away and one about 30. Houston is interlaced with bayous, though. The city has dozens, a few of which are sizable. So that's one possibility, I suppose, and one good sized one is a few blocks from our house.

I googled this species, learned quite a bit. You're correct in your identification, by the way. It's become a more and more common species here in Texas, having migrated up from Mexico over the last several decades. Sez they often graze through harvested grain land, none of which we have around here. It also sez that lots of folks put out nesting boxes for them (and food as well?), so this might be a semi-domestic family that was just out for an afternoon stroll, deciding to take a dip in a handy, nearby pool.

[Sciolist]

[Attila]

How cute they are !!