Thursday, May 21, 2009

On short final, gear down and locked


MALLARD ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

This is the first time I've been able to capture a mallard as it comes in for a splashdown. It lands just as an airplane does, wings at an acute angle of attack as if the flaps have been lowered, its speed just above stalling. Except there's no rollout.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great shot :) - I've been trying to get cormorants flyiing all week to no avail!

They're weird - they jump off into the water first, then take off splashing their way in the water until they gain enough flight to pull themselves out of it! Weird!