Goose wing drying

[Jim Thomas]

At least I guess thats what he is doing. Wasn't really flapping. In hindsight I wish I'd had a lower iso and wider aperture, but the plan was to shoot flying ducks/geese. The smaller aperture really emphasised the busy BG so I did a multilayer mask with noise reduction on one, the a slight gaussian blur and vertical motion blur on the other, then I blended those two. I also lightened the shadows on right breast and wing, and did some sharpening. Perch maybe oversharp?

nikon D500, Sigma 150-500 at 500mm, F9 at 1/800 sec., iso 640, spot metering.

Thanks for peeking,

Jim

128783

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Hi Jim. I really like the subtle earth tones in this image and the nice pose you captured. I think you did a great job with the masking for the bg although I see something funny around the bottom edge of the birds left wing. Not sure if it is the water or missed masking?. Nice detail too

[Barry Ekstrand]

Very nice comp. The sticks coming out of the water are distracting to me, I would try to clone them out so the vegetation has a uniform height above the water on that side. I agree with Cheryl, almost looks like some glowing to me off of the left wing but I think it is reflection - still might be worth trying to clone out or subdue.

On the pose, I've seen this in a number of other species - Anhingas and Black Vultures to name a couple - and I thought it was a behavior to get attention and either attract a mate or some kind of territorial claim. Not sure if that is right or not, I'd like to learn more about it.

Barry

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Overall good job in PP on the BG...but it does look odd in a few spots...the area around the head and neck stand out to me.

good shooting angle and pose. good that you got the catchlight in the eye.

[Steve Canuel]

Although a common subject, I find these guys quite photogenic. I like the pose and color tones. Sharpening looks okay to me on the bird but I do find the area he's standing looks a little too sharp, probably due to the specular highlights and shadows.

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
I really lke the pose, nice light, and great comp.
Well done.