Geese in Flight - C&C appreciated

[Brownbear]

Some recent shots where I blew the background by using spot metering.

Edited in LR using Whites, Blacks, selectively sharpening, clarity and vibrancy on just the geese. And the curves tool on the entire photo.

I would be most appreciative of C&C on the exposure of the geese and my editing, and anything else really.

Thank you.

Is this shot just a little underexposed or not quite in focus?




I think these next two shots are better than the first shot?




In this shot I tried to lighten just the head of the goose using the dodge brush in LR but scrapped that idea because it made the head noisy.

[ScoutR]

Hi Christina: Nice shots, great composition and you caught them all in nice positions.

I think all 3 could still use some tweaking though. Have you tried some fill light and increasing the shadows on the tone curve, just to lighten up the underside a bit? Then compensate for those adjustments by increasing the blacks. I also think I would apply much more sharpening. All three seem to be in focus but are soft looking. I wouldn't worry about selective sharpening, I'd apply more sharpening to the whole photo, keep the radius at .5 though.
Another tip, especially for the second and third shot where the light seems nicer, try adjusting white balance a bit to the yellows, just a teensy bit though to emphasize the sunlight on the feathers. As you said, you've blown the sky, so you don't have to worry about messing up the blues.

Excellent shots, but I think if you keep tweaking they can be even better.

Wendy

[Brownbear]

Thank you Wendy...

Your advice is very helpful and exactly what I needed. I will try the fill light and tone curve adjustments, and applying more sharpening... I'm always hesitant about sharpening too much so thank you for telling me that they are still too soft looking. I will also try the WB on yellows.

I also have some shots using matrix metering with the blue sky, where the geese are a bit underexposed.. So working through the above shots will help me to learn what to look for in the other shots.

[Brownbear]

Hi Wendy,

Here are my edits.. Likely not perfect but I think they I did a fair job of them but please let me know if I pushed these edits too far.

I found it very interesting that lightening the shadows brought out the sun, and now I have what appear to be golden geese. Thank you.