Introducing the coolest duck feather ever - and my new feather photo website

I think the first time I ever plucked a wild duck, I admired the beauty in the pile of feathers at my feet. Maybe it was something about how the beams of light hit them on the garage floor. Or the fact that the individual feathers that comprise our image of a duck can be so surprising when we view them in isolation.

But it wasn't until this duck season that I really began to study duck feathers, and boy was I in for a surprise. Amidst all the beauty on the plucking-room floor, there lay this discovery:


Yes, folks, it's true. This photo is not a fake. Drake gadwalls have smiley face feathers.Read more...
Backing up a little bit: When the 2010-11 season began, one of my students came to school wearing beautiful feather earrings. I asked where she got them, and she said her mother made them. I told her I get lots of beautiful feathers all the time during duck season and asked if she'd like some. Yes!

Then when I blogged about the new partnership back in November, my mom read the post and asked if she could have prints of the photos I used because she wanted to frame them.

Thus was born a new project: gallery-quality duck feather photography.

My work has just begun: I've completed thirteen photos from six species: gadwall, greenwing teal, mallard, pintail (including some nice hen feathers), ruddy and spoonie.

However, there are some obvious holes, like no pin tail-feather for the drake pintail, and no shot of the classic scalloped feathers from the drake gadwall's shoulder. I've photographed them, but want to re-do them.

And the much-maligned drake spoonie has a lot of stunning feathers that I haven't gotten to yet (though I did get my perfect specimen yesterday at Delevan - possibly the first time I've ever been jubilant at shooting a spoonie).

Good lord, I have fourteen boxes of duck feathers stacked up in our den, just waiting to be scrutinized and photographed. You wouldn't believe how long a single shooting session takes.

But my photo gallery is up and running: You can now peruse photos and buy prints online at heyserphoto.smugmug.com. It's a great opportunity to purchase hunting-related art that you could hang in any workplace without offending those folks who are queasy about hunting.

If you're interested in purchasing the smiley-face photo, just select the Gadwall gallery on my site, or click here to go directly to that photo. (And don't worry about that ugly ole "© Holly A. Heyser" splashed across the image - I have to do that online to prevent copyright infringement; your print will be nice and clean.)

It's important to note that I went with SmugMug because I had purchased a photo through that company by dynamite waterfowl photographer Fred Greenslade of Delta Waterfowl. I was really impressed with the quality of printing and the incredibly sturdy packaging that ensured photos would not be damaged in transit.

SmugMug also allows me to make a little money for the creative work that I do - believe me, blogging and doing food photography for Boyfriend is not terribly lucrative. To that end, dear readers, I'd be grateful if you could spread the word about the fun smiley-face photo and my new online gallery among all the duck hunters/admirers you know.

So, back to that gaddie photo: If you don't believe the photo is real, go get yourself a drake gadwall before the season ends and check it out for yourself. While the quality of smiley face varies from bird to bird - some of the feathers I've collected have garish jack-o-lantern-style smiles with big wicked eyes - every drake gadwall I've plucked has these smiley feathers.

Here's where you look - on the breast, in the transition from brown feathers to white feathers:



I don't know if I'll ever be able to top that smiley-face photo. But I'm really enjoying the process. The ducks I have admired for all my time as a hunter become more beautiful and amazing to me with every feather I photograph.

© Holly A. Heyser 2011