Canadian Goose - in flight

[Terry Johnson]

137159

Hello, this image was taken a couple of days ago at the Portland Yacht Club marina in Portland ,OR. Bird is about 50 yards out. Trying to improve my tracking technique. The bird thought I was shooting at him and made a horrendous inverted movement, see next frame, his head is still set normal, however. Too bad it is blurry.

137160

Camera data:

Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm with 2.0 teleconveter for 400mm
F5.6
1/1000
ISO-125
A-Priority

Thanks...Terry Johnson

[eddyswan]

Hi Terry, it must be fun to watch this guy in action. Great flight pose.
The lighting is quite harsh that produces unpleasant shadow underneath the wing and the belly. You might try to brighten the shadow in post.

[adrian dancy]

The light is a bit harsh and your exposure appears good. It is a pity that the head encroaches the wing. I think you should have used a higher ISO setting to give the bird a bit more detail and to freeze the action.

Of course it is not possible to know for sure what is going on here but I think your assessment is different to mine. It appears that the bird is looking slightly upward and into the light and has possibly seen another bird which it has perceived as possibly being predatory and is taking evasive or precautionary action. Did the bird return to water?

[Terry Johnson]

Eddy and Adrian, Thanks for the suggestions. I will take a pass at lightening up the area under the wing. As far as why the bird made the dip, It was part of a larger group. I was following with the camera and they came pretty close...40 feet??. There was a bald eagle about 200 yards away and well behind. I don' think it was him.

Thanks guys...Terry Johnson