# And why is Father Mallard Missing in Action?

**URL:** <https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/and-why-is-father-mallard-missing-in-action/6789>\
**Category:** Image Critiques\
**Tags:** weekly-challenge\
**Created:** [May 31, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/and-why-is-father-mallard-missing-in-action/6789 "2019-05-31T21:42:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![David\_Schoen](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/david_schoen/32/368_2.png) [@David\_Schoen](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/David_Schoen)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/and-why-is-father-mallard-missing-in-action/6789/1 "2019-05-31T21:42:46Z")

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Taken from a boardwalk in a local wildlife refuge this morning. Dennis Plank and I had a very quiet 3 hours with few subjects to photograph.

### What technical feedback would you like if any?

### What artistic feedback would you like if any?

### Pertinent technical details or techniques: iso 1600, 100-400 plus 1.4 extender at 466mm, f8, 200th, handheld, A7R3, full frame ![And-where-is-Dad-copy](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/2X/1/199b3bb0252f1e1b51c7ab88d10fd67caa2526bb.jpeg)

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

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**Author:** ![Dennis\_Plank](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dennis_plank/32/27033_2.png) [@Dennis\_Plank](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dennis_Plank)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/and-why-is-father-mallard-missing-in-action/6789/2 "2019-06-01T02:00:44Z")

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This worked out quite well, David. I haven’t even downloaded yet. Hope I got something as good from this little session.

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**Author:** ![Mark\_Seaver](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/mark_seaver/32/231_2.png) [@Mark\_Seaver](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Mark_Seaver)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/and-why-is-father-mallard-missing-in-action/6789/3 "2019-06-01T14:00:08Z")

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David, this is a great duck family shot. The nearly complete coverage by the floating leaves adds a fine touch of abstraction. The males join into groups shortly before the eggs hatch, leaving the raising to the mothers. Since the raising is all about keeping the little ones safe (she doesn’t have to feed them) it’s not as much work as a lot of other bird species.