It was gray and overcast early last Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when I captured this shot of a small flock of Bufflehead ducks (Bucephala albeola) flying away from me. Normally “butt shots” are undesirable, but in this case I like the almost abstract patterns of the birds’ wings and their reflections in the water.
Although this looks like I converted the image to black and white, this is more or less what it looked like color-wise straight out of the camera. No matter how I played with saturation, I could not bring out any colors in the shot. I think, though, that the monochromatic look of the final image is a pretty good match for the mood of that moment.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That’s a great photo, Mike. Sometimes, we surprise ourselves.
Thanks, Dan. You’ve expressed well one of the great mysteries of photography–when you press the shutter release, especially with live subjects, I never quite know what I will get. The subject may move, the light may change, or I may have forgotten to change the settings from a previous shot. It reminds me of a well-know Bob Ross saying, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
🙂
Nice Mike! Always fun to photograph ducks!
I think the monochromatic nature of this image focuses the eye on the interest to be found in those shapes.
I actually really like this image. It’s like a painting.