Mallard drake

A goup of us from NPSNZ had a great day in the Ashburton Gardens. A bright, sunny day, but late enough in the season that the light was not too harsh. I focused on the ducks first thing, when the light was still good, and captured autumn colours later with the help of a polarising filter. I haven't had time to work through the images yet, so here is a mallard drake in faded plumage for the moment.

The biggest problem with photographing these ducks was the large numbers making it difficult to get a clean shot... the duck shooting season has just begun, so they are congregating in the parks. The light on the water was beautiful, though with reflections of the blue sky and yellow, green and red foliage.