Geese in flight

[Stinky]

All

Would like to get some C&C on this shot. Not sure if I like it or not. It was taken on a real cloudy/drizzly day at a local wildlife management area. I am not sure about the crop and just can't get a good feel for the photo. . I have played around with the crop and also a little PP, which I am just scratching on the surface. Thanks.

[Donald]

Steve

As I found out recently, when I tried it for the first time, this sort of stuff is very, very difficult. If I shoot 10/12 frames in a session doing my usual sort of stuff, I think I've done an awful lot. When I recently went to two bird reserves in south-west Scotland, I shot about 200 frames and got 2 that I thought were worth something. So, a completely different experience.

What I found was that this sort of 'looking down on them with the water/land behind' didn't tend to work. And in this one, I think you've got competing areas. There are the birds. And then there are the bushes right at the bottom. And then the two strips of land. And the strip of water between them. So, although the initial reaction might be different, it's actually quite a busy image. The result of all that is that I think the birds actually get a bit lost in the frame.

For what it's worth, the link to the two I got are here and here

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi steve,

the view angle doesnt work for me. sorry but it would head to the trash if it was mine

[rob marshall]

It lacks tonal range to me. Here is the histogram - there is nothing at all in the left or right 25% bands.

[Stinky]

Thanks for all the comments. I agree. I just could not figure it out. I had someone at work telling me it was good but I just couldn't agree why. The grass and the two strips of land were the things that I was battling with. A closer crop cuts out all of the things that make the photo but they are too busy at the same time. I did not think about shooting down which is a great comment. We were on a berm in the WMA. Thanks for all the C&C.

[Steve S]

Hi steve, wildlife is one of the hardest forms of photography. You have to plan your shots and be ready to execute them in a couple of seconds. Finding good areas where the light is good and the backgrounds are pleasing is one of the keys to good wildlife photos.

As the others have said, you have alot of things going on in the background, which take the focus away from the subjects. Setting up in the right spot or zooming in past the distractions can make a huge difference.(cropping only robs you of image resolution and should be a last resort.)


I cleaned up the forground by cloning, and cropped the background .....................