A very lucky shot

I went down to our local lake this evening just to take some night shots of the lights and moon reflected in the water, when to my surprise I spotted this lone swan and what I think are ducks (I hope they're not cygnets this late in the season) swimming around in this tiny patch of open water. Unfortunately, I didn't have the telephoto zoom lens, but managed to catch this shot with the 24-70. The light was so low, I had the ISO up to 1600 and still needed 1/2 sec. I had quite a bit of blur in several of the shots, but I think this one isn't too bad.

I love these times in early spring and late fall when the swans pass through here. They're so majestic.

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4 replies	Author	Time	Post
A very lucky shot (Original post)	Blue_In_AK	Oct 2012	OP
It's gorgeous, my dear Blue!	CaliforniaPeggy	Oct 2012	#1
Yes, it's ice.	Blue_In_AK	Oct 2012	#2
I like it!	Solly Mack	Oct 2012	#3
I just went back to check the swan in the daylight	Blue_In_AK	Oct 2012	#4

Response to Blue_In_AK (Original post)

Wed Oct 24, 2012, 02:09 AM

CaliforniaPeggy (103,983 posts)

1. It's gorgeous, my dear Blue!

Is that ice surrounding the open water?

The swan is lovely, and she stands out quite clearly.

Beautiful!

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Response to CaliforniaPeggy (Reply #1)

Wed Oct 24, 2012, 02:30 AM

Blue_In_AK (37,721 posts)

2. Yes, it's ice.

Things are just starting to freeze up here, so there are still little patches of open water in most of the lakes and lagoons. When I first drove up here she was in the water, but then she got out and walked on the ice out toward the middle of the lake. I took some silhouette shots of her against the light, but pretty soon she came back to the water so I was able to get these better pictures. The trick was having her hold still long enough to get a clear shot. She was feeding, so she kept ducking her head down under the water. And the little ones were swimming around really fast; they're just blurs in some of the pictures.

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Response to Blue_In_AK (Original post)

Wed Oct 24, 2012, 09:40 AM

Solly Mack (49,491 posts)

3. I like it!

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Response to Solly Mack (Reply #3)

Wed Oct 24, 2012, 03:26 PM

Blue_In_AK (37,721 posts)

4. I just went back to check the swan in the daylight

and there are now four of them there. They're sleeping...I waited them out for quite a while, but they didn't move much. I'm going back in an hour or so after it warms up a bit more.

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