Sunday, August 31, 2008

YOU LOOKING AT ME?- CRITTERS



Last week I had the badly titled pun "duck close and personal" which could have been this one really too. Ah well never mind. So many of you were able to name the ugly duck after I asked for help last week as a Muscovy. All I knew was he just looked so weird with his bright white feathers and knobbly red beak. As Wilma put is (Mrs Nesbitts dog, no really) the duck looked like he had be playing with his mama's lipstick.

Well even I can tell you this Manx duck giving me the evil eye is a Mallard. Mallards are around the world, just this one has a Manx passport. Actually he was quite sweet. I like ducks to photograph. They just waddle towards you begging for their image to be snapped. Even better if you have a bag of bread, you can get an open beak shot, or a mad flapping group shot.

This shot was taken by the harbour under the bridge, the image yesterday. It's a crop of a cropped image. I am updating my library shots and was playing around with this duck shot as I found the whole image a little boring. Obviously that's why it's never been used. His eye caught my eye, so that's how the image came to be. Sometimes less is more with an image. Not to every one's taste but I confess to not having an image ready as I have been busy on another photographic project. Yippee it finished today though.

Thanks for the advice re those pesky emails. I've now got the junk mail filter enabled and a safe list. So that should dump the crappy ones. I don't really want to change the comments box though. I know it's more sensible to enable the censor so I can dump the rubbish before they go on, but I just don't like the idea of not letting people have their say. I will just keep an eye on it and dump the swearing ones. See how it goes.

John K. It's funny how you enjoy the ranting posts better than the nice ones. It seems you are not alone. In fact I get more feedback and requests for those kind than any other post. Sure some of you out there aren't just winding me up so I post a rant! Naughty.

For more wonderful camera critters see MISTY DAWN Camera critters and be sure to leave a nice comment for Misty' s own oustanding posts.

52 comments:

Knoxville Girl said...

B, this duck is definitely giving you the stink eye. Perhaps it's his turn to rant. I like the b&w.
Rant or no, I like your blog. You go girl.

Anonymous said...

I like your Mallard - interesting b&w photo. I also like your writing. People actually swear at you - why on earth for?!

dot said...

Interesting duckformation. Love the picture too and the bridge in the last post is fantastic!
You asked how I came up with Sky Watch. I tried to think of something that would be easy for ANY one to take a picture of. We don't all have flowers, pets, bridges, etc but most all of us can take pictures of the sky.

Anonymous said...

LB,

Digging De Niro duck. Which lens do you use to get a shot sharp like this? Hey, stay cool. I saw the cussing. Not American. We don't use that kind of cussing. Thought you Brits were polite! You know what they say. Them that can do those that can't bug bloggers. You rant'n'rave it's cool.

bcmomtoo said...

I think this duck photo turned out really nice. Thanks for sharing.

Indrani said...

Great job done on the duck photo, it has turned out quite well. :)

Virginia said...

Love the crop crop. It's so much more interesting! What I want to know is why you didn't shoot this guy waddliing down the Ramsey Swing Bridge???

Julie said...

When I first saw this in the portal, I thought it was a geisha in a distorting mirror! I had to stare for quite a few seconds before that second sight thing clicked in and I realised that the lower holes were nose and not eye. Stay off the red wine, Julie ...

The sad thing about this image is that it puts the kybosh on one I have scheduled for this coming Thursday which is a eye-up of a Pacific Black Duck. Might still let it out for a run - mine was as-was: no cropping, no nothing.

ratmammy said...

i love the look on this duck!! haha!

Maria Verivaki said...

more like an odd shot to me - very clever done in black and white

pts said...

excellent B&W!

david mcmahon said...

It's official - you are dux (ducks) of your class!

Anonymous said...

A portrait to hang on his wall.

Stevenson Q said...

That shot is truly great babooshka! I hope I can do a close up shot with an animal to! jajajaja God Bless you and thanks for still patronizing my blog even after a long period of no posts! Thanks so much and God Bless yoU!

Steven^^

bobbie said...

I love the cropped shot. Very nice!

Roan said...

This Duck could be in Sunset Boulevard's final scene. Norma Desmond's (Gloria Swanson) "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" Academy award material here! BJ

Webradio said...

Hello !

Il fait peur le regard de ce cygne...

Kahshe Cottager said...

I really like the cropping here. I wouldn't have recognized it as a Mallard without seeing the colour as I am not that good at recognizing ducks without the bird book at hand. I did think this would be what Daffy Duck might have been modeled from though!

Have a wonderful weekend!
My Camera Critters Here and Here

Anonymous said...

Eye Eye! He might have a passport but does he have a work permit!

I like to see the gritty images of the town, like the graffiti one you have. Nothing wrong with realism.

Hilda said...

I used to work as a graphic designer and discovered that creative cropping does wonders for the most photos. About the only kind of photo resistant to cropping is a head-on firing line group shot where everyone has to be included.

Daffy would love this portrait! :)

Unknown said...

I really like that De Niro's look! Great shot, Babooshka!

B.Roan, I loved your comment! :-)

Cath said...

I like this really tight shot. It forces me to notice what you are showing me. In this case, less is definitely more.

Anonymous said...

Great photo! Thanks for sharing. Stop by and visit with my Camera Critter, too!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Babooshaka: Cool closse-up of the duck.

Mame said...

I like how you made a tough guy out of a little waddling duck. Quack-quack, I'll be back.

angela said...

Don't know what you did to this guy...probably didn't shoot him from his good side!
I like their colouring(usually) but he wouldn't have looked so evil in colour I guess.

Unknown said...

you have a very interesting blog as well as your site, i've visited it already. wonderful photos! i'm new to blogging & photography though i'm very much into arts. i paint & i love painting. i'm trying my hand on photography but still hurdles to getting good results. and i'm enjoying it so much.

Debbie Courson Smith said...

Babboshka - you make people laugh, learn and think. It's a good mix. But don't ever take the thoughts from those other people personally.

Rhea said...

Very cool close up. Ducks have such funny expressions, gotta love em!

Anonymous said...

Walk your own line, lets others fall off theirs. Momma's wise old saying. I like your blog, ugly stuff, pretty stuff all come out in wash. Walk your own line.

Reader Wil said...

I like all ducks! In the Tablelands in Queensland Australia we saw quite a lot of muscovi ducks and my daughter has some too. Mallards are also nice! Your blog is as always very interesting!

Texas Travelers said...

Great photo.
Well cropped and presented.
I like the bridge photos.

I enjoyed my visit.

If you are keeping track,
Alaska Sunday is posted.
It's the trip log with some new photos.
To see the post, Click here.
Troy and Martha

Anonymous said...

Interesting crop, now you really see him looking at you :-)

DeniseinVA said...

Your duck is absolutely adorable and this is a great photo. I like the cropped image. It's amazing how cropping brings a photo to life. I have done it to several myself.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely duck! love the B&W. Thanks for the visit!

Anonymous said...

I would like to see the colour one and the duck last week in black and white.

Misty DawnS said...

Hehehehe - I love it! The duck ain't luvin you, but I'm loving the shot ;-)

P.S. I'm a fan of your blog - please don't change a thing.

Anonymous said...

Cool - I love his expression, he's really going eyeball-to-eyeball with you isn't he!

Thanks for leaving comments on both Glasgow and Sibiu DPs - I really appreciate you (and everyone else!) taking the time to comment.

Eki said...

At this close up angle, she looks so cute. I like the details you captured in this photo; also the lines/patterns (?), not to mention the rich monochrome tones.

Bravo, Babooshka!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Many thanks again.

Dot. Thanks you for the answer, and I totally agree.

Julie. Looking forward to the unaltered duck. Natural are my favourite.

Kiwi. I like your thinkng on the odd shot. I will have to remember that.

kjpweb said...

Good one - and works well in B/W!
And for those spammers - they are jerks, that probably have no life, still live at their parents at age 28, and of course don't get any...
The day will come that they can be tracked down, identified and persecuted - regardless where they are.
Cheers, Klaus

i beati said...

fantastic wow sandy

Olivier said...

bel hommage à Robert De Niro ;o))

beautiful tribute to Robert De Niro ;o))

mrsnesbitt said...

Wilma is thrilled that you quoted her. There'll be no living with her today! LOL!

Hmmmmmmmmmm!

Saretta said...

You may not have any reptiles, but you certainly have a lot of birds on Ramsey Island! Is it possible the birds ate all the lizards? :-)

Profile Not Available said...

I love this!

Rambling Woods said...

Please be careful with the bread. It can swell and cause a problem in their crops. Bread is the ultimate junk food for ducks and geese.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Rambling woods. I never knew that. Do you have any suggestions as to what to feed them. I do enjoy have a chat with them. Thank you for pointing out something I never knew.

nonizamboni said...

What a face--and what a shot! I love that ducks have cheeks, too.
Thanks for sharing. Happy week!

Leedra said...

Like this shot, you are in his face. Or is he in your face?

Julie said...

The warning about bread is given here in Australia for our Rainbow Lorikeets that are honey-eaters and humans offer them a mix of bread and sugar. We are advised to replace this with a commercially prepared seed mix that is sweet. By overfeeding them the bread/sugar mix we also make it hard for them to survive in their wild state.

Becky said...

Ooh, cool close-up shot! Ducks are so adorable. At least, I think so.

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