13 December, 2010

Local Patch - 13/12/10 - Finally, a Smew.

After 18 years at the local patch, a redhead Smew put in an appearance on the lagoons. On the drive over, and despite an hour of daylight remaining, the light deteriorated as the mist descended. The bird was associating with the local mallards and was occasionally frisky, splashing about not unlike teal. The camera was on the tripod, ISO was high, image stabilizer was off (as recommended by Canon when using a tripod), the exposure compensation was down a few thirds to allow for the dark water and give faster shutter. The resultant images were still awful - not unsurprising with 1/80th shutter speed !



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