A Painted Turtle looks on as pair of Mallard Drakes take flight
I must confess I did not notice the little turtle until I reviewed this capture, as my attention was riveted upon the beautiful Mallards.
As I rounded a bend in the lake shoreline the Mallards watched me intently. Once I had the camera setting readied I began closing the distance as usual running the boat at very slow speed waiting for the moment they exploded into flight.
When shooting take-off shots, it is always a difficult call as to the best combination of aperture and shutter speed. In many cases I find myself fighting for enough light but that was not the case here as the bright sun was at a high angle. I used a 1/500 sec. shutter for this shot which gave a sharp image of the duck’s bodies while still allowing a pleasing amount of motion blur on the wings.
