Three Of The Kind

[Yves Matteau]

I Had A Wonderful Opportunity Last Spring To Take Pictures Of The Snow Geese Coming Back From The South. They Make A Pause Here In Quebec Province Before Going To Farther North.
I Try Hard To Make Pictures Of Them Landing Apart From The Whole Bunch , But Was Lucky Enough For This Trio Landing.
Thing That I Will Have To Work More To Reduce Noise. Tell Me What You Suggest For This Kind Of Photo.
Canon 20d
F/18
Iso 800
Exp.comp. -2/3
100-400 F/5.6 @560mm

[Jim Poor]

Having spent a few hours with gulls yesterday with nothing to show for it, I cringe for you when I see -2/3 and still some blown out whites. Especially on the rear bird.

You got nice poses on the two front birds, but the back one being covered up by the one in front of it makes the image feel a little chaotic to me.

What was your shutter speed, and what post processing did you do? Did you have to lighten it significantly or crop it heavily?

Best,
Jim

[Fabs Forns]

Suggestions;

Sun angle (you are working with strong side light)
Softer light (either earlier or later in the day for reduced contrast)

F/ 18 will still not get them all in focus, so maybe go for a wider aperture and focus in the one closer to you and let the DOF fall off the rest of them.

[Robert Amoruso]

Fabs summed up my comments perfectly.

[Alfred Forns]

Yves I think lowering the iso will give you the best result Everything is a trade The most important for these type images is avoiding the overlaps and shadows from one bird into the other !!!!

[Yves Matteau]

Having spent a few hours with gulls yesterday with nothing to show for it, I cringe for you when I see -2/3 and still some blown out whites. Especially on the rear bird.

You got nice poses on the two front birds, but the back one being covered up by the one in front of it makes the image feel a little chaotic to me.

What was your shutter speed, and what post processing did you do? Did you have to lighten it significantly or crop it heavily?

Best,
Jim


SHUTTER SPEED= 1/1000 AND NO CROP AND REMOVING NOISE IN POST PROCESSING WITH ACDsee

[Arthur Morris]

Excellent job by all of the team above. The huge problem here is with light angle. "Point your shadow at the subject" has been my #1 guideline for 20+ years. Break it without a specific purpose, and you will pay the price (as you have done here)...

later and love, artie

[Yves Matteau]

Excellent job by all of the team above. The huge problem here is with light angle. "Point your shadow at the subject" has been my #1 guideline for 20+ years. Break it without a specific purpose, and you will pay the price (as you have done here)...

later and love, artie

As a beginner in photography (since 2 years) i appreciate every comments and suggestions that i could get from everybody to improve. Question to Arthur Morris:"What do you mean by :"Point your shadow at the subject"? Brief explanation would be very welcome.

[Arthur Morris]

As a beginner in photography (since 2 years) i appreciate every comments and suggestions that i could get from everybody to improve. Question to Arthur Morris:"What do you mean by :"Point your shadow at the subject"? Brief explanation would be very welcome.

Hi Yves, Pointing your shadow at the bird means putting yourself in a position where the sun is coming directly over your head. When this is the case, your shadow will be pointed right at the bird (as in the image below)>

Later and love, artie

ps: I am gonna copy this to Eager to Learn so that more folks can see it.

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Artie -
But what would you do, when you can't get the sun behind you. Say you're on a beach - can't change position due to water or the birds are only flying in with side-lighting? What advice would you give to "salvage" the photographic opportunity , or is it doomed?

[Arthur Morris]

For me, if it is sunny, I would say doomed unless you can figure out a spot to do some totally backlkit stuff. Side light may be OK for some mammals but from where I sit it is death on birds (as seen above).

You could try way underexposing to save the highlights and then way open up the shadow but then the shadows get muddy and noisy--not my cup of tea so I just don't waste my time.

later and love,

artei

[Yves Matteau]

Hi Yves, Pointing your shadow at the bird means putting yourself in a position where the sun is coming directly over your head. When this is the case, your shadow will be pointed right at the bird (as in the image below)>

Later and love, artie

ps: I am gonna copy this to Eager to Learn so that more folks can see it.


Thank you guys for all your comments and suggestions. That`s exactly why i am here: to learn.

[Arthur Morris]

Thank you guys for all your comments and suggestions. That`s exactly why i am here: to learn.

<smile> You've come to the right place!

later and love, artie