All three groundhogs lined up right next to each other, one looking left, one looking right, and the one in the middle looking straight at me – until I went for the camera.
On one of my ventures into the backwoods and backwaters of the Tennessee River, I came upon these birds ambling around in the shallow waters. Maybe because of global warming, it has been reported that certain types of water birds, similar to these, have been seen in the North Alabama area where they had not been seen before.
I had this one sitting on the back burner, frankly, because I wasn’t really happy with the clarity of the shot. I’ve got my excuses, low light, long zoom, heavy processing, etc. Even still, when I went back for a second look, I decided that it was better than I remembered, and the contrast of the birds umber eye helped to make the shot worthy of presentation.
I felt this to be a remarkable shot for several reasons. The rarity, getting three in one frame, the distance away, and the distance off the ground up in the trees. It was well after dark, shooting max f-stop and zoom at a max 300mm for a 2 second exposure at 800 iso, on a monopod steadied against a nearby fence. After the fact, I found I actually over exposed a little bit, but all in all I can’t complain too much about the clarity and sharpness of the focus.
