Yesterday I told you about how we searched for a Harlequin Duck all over tarnation and finally found it after two-and-a-half hours. It flew into the Prairie Harbor Channel on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Luckily I kept my eye on it because after a few minutes of foraging in the channel it took off and flew right by me as it headed toward the little marina to the west. I captured the flight of the Harlequin as it sped toward me, and as you look at the pictures below I think you’ll see why we were so invested in finding this bird.
Pretty impressive bird! So what was my “rookie” mistake? When I looked at these shots on my computer back home I was disappointed that there was some softness in the images, particularly in the wings. When I glanced at the EXIF readout I saw that I was shooting a flying bird with a shutter speed of only 1/1000th of a second! I had been walking around all day and never once checked this important setting. I set it to 1/1000th of a second the last time I went out because it was a dull, overcast day. However this day had bright, sunny skies and I should have reset the shutter speed to at least 1/2000th of a second. Had I checked my settings before I even got out of the car I would have setup my camera for the day’s conditions. The shots of the Harlequin Duck would have been much better. Rookie mistake!
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