Geese in Flight - C&C appreciated

[Brownbear]

Manual SS 2000 F8 Spot Metering iso 2000 Exp Comp +.67









Cropped to eliminate the bottom goose




I suspect that even though the colours are richer, and the geese are more head on that this imnage is too crowded compositionally speaking, and into the bin because not all the birds are in focus?

Thank you.

[Ken Curtis]

These are nice shots of the geese, Christina. The birds are exposed well, but I find the bright water distracting because of the edges in the ripples. Another thing you might want to consider is capturing the birds where they are all separated from each other, such as in images 2 and 3. The birds overlap in images 1 and 4, which makes for a more confusing image. You may have to learn "geese whispering."

[Brownbear]

Hi Ken,

Good point about the water ripples and clustered birds. I have a stash of shots including some where a boat is in the background or just a lone goose. I will post later for review.

Yes, Geese whispering would come in handy... I will work on my timing when I click the shutter.

Thank you for your feedback. Appreciated.

[Brownbear]

As it seems my geese are very hit and miss, here are a few more that I would appreciate some general feedback on.

Different WB






As part of a landscape







Cropped to eliminate a 4th goose on the bottom that was even more out of focus then the 3rd bottom goose.




Just floating on water

[AB26]

[nimitzbenedicto]

Fantastic shots!

[Ken Curtis]

Hi Christina. I like the images because the geese stand out from their background. #3 and #5 still have overlapping birds and would be better if they were separated.

[just me]

Christina, nice images, but I like the second one the best.......

Griddi.....

[PRSearls]

You are getting very good at this, Christina. My favorite is number four. I like the foggy/hazy cityscape background. The birds' dark colors stand out nicely against the muted blue colors... very pretty. Are these "city birds?" Do geese like sea water?

Paul S

[Digital]

Christina, the first set of pics in this thread are all good IMHO.



Bruce

[Brownbear]

Thank you Paul and Bruce for your comments and kind words...

For the past week or so there have been a lot of flocks of geese flying about, and I have been trying for a head on shot which is not clipped but for some reason I can't manage to do it. I wait at a dock for them to fly close enough for a shot, and if I'm lucky enough to find that a one of them is flying straight at me by the time I get focus head on, the goose is clipped because it is in my face OR out of focus... I am thinking that it must be a trick of anticipating focus beforehand... Anyway I am getting lots of practice and managing a few nice shots here and there.

Paul, I would describe them as City Park Birds... I live on the North Shore of Vancouver and I think the geese are flying from Stanley Park over the ocean to the North Shore. (hence Vancouver city scape in the background - I'll try a few more of these) The geese tend to hang about where the rivers meet the ocean, and I think they prefer fresh water but they are often seen floating on the ocean waters. They are considered pests here because they eat the grass, and generally make a mess of the grass in the parks and fresh water lagoons where they hang about...

They live for 20+ years, mate for life, and are quite aggressive when protecting their young.

Photographed in the park a few months ago...



The babies are kind of ugly but still cute in their own way







And one from this morning...