Ducks.

A Lone Mallard Swimming by.

Today there has been more rain in some areas than there normally is in the whole month. So, ducks were an appropriate subject for today’s photograph!

Living on water, especially where there is loads of wildlife, this was not exactly difficult to achieve. Biding my time, a saw a flotilla (is that the right word?) of Mallards going by.

As I was in the process of emptying the card from the main camera, I quickly assembled the Olympus with the long lens. I could have been able to take the photo under the cover at the bow, but they had already swum past.

Getting out onto the towpath, I ran along to a spot where I could catch the ducks as they arrived. They had separated, but I managed to catch this chap.

Despite being mid-afternoon, the light was very dull. On reflection, I should have probably increased the ISO so I could use a faster shutter speed. By the time I realised, it was too late. Again, though, it does show how good this little camera is in less than ideal circumstances. Even photographing ducks!

As I only have the kit lenses that come with the camera, I am limited on the aperture. As you can see from the specification, the widest the telephoto zoom will go is F/4, lessening to F/5.6 with the lens on full zoom. This means that I need to use a slower shutter speed, increasing the risk of a moving subject being blurred.

Photograph Details:

• Taken: 17 May 2017
• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 MkII
• Lens: Olympus 40-150 1:4-5.6
• Focal Length 150mm
• F/5.6
• 1/40 Sec
• ISO 200