Snow Goose

[Nancy Bell]

I know postings from Bosque have been numerous but I hope folks are still willing to look. I am not sure about this crop. Should I try to crop off the geese on the right? The group of geese that I could approach really liked being in a tight group and I was not able to isolate one. So all those background geese are in the image :(. Are they simply too distracting? I did crop out a few bits of geese. My position was on my belly on one of those dirt dikes.

Canon 7D, Canon 400 f4 DO IS.
ISO 400, f10, 1/2500, exposure comp -2/3

Thanks for any comments & suggestions.

[Randy Stout]

Nancy:
The main subject is sharp, very well exposed, like all the drops, including the flying ones.
I have the sense it needs a bit of CW rotation, although not easy to be sure here.

I would certainly try a version with the right side geese cropped out as you mentioned.

Probably not possible at the time, but a foot or two to your right would have given a little more separation from the closer geese. Of course, there probably were a bunch just to the left as well!

Cheers

Randy

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Nancy, this may be a no-win situation. The main subject is nicely exposed, sharp and has an interesting pose. But it's too tight and definitely needs a CW rotation. More room at the bottom for the virtual feet may also be helpful. That being said I know how tough it can be. JR

[Stu Bowie]

Nancy, nice and sharp, and good job on the whites. I agree the surround OOF geese are a bit distracting. A tighter crop would suit this, together with trying to further blur the other geese, but not making them look unnatural. Another vote for some CW rotation.

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Nancy,

A nice, sharp image of a snow goose in an action pose but in an otherwise problematic composition that could be improved with suggestions above but not to the point where you will have a "killer image," as Artie calls them. By the time you level the image the main subject will be lower in the frame and it will still be surrounded by snow goose bokeh.:) Looking forward to seeing your next Bosque shot.

DB

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nancy, fact of the matter is that the area you were photgoraphing at was full of geese - in this tells that story and I like it. I actually wouldn't mind a looser crop (more centered for the main subject), even if that introduces more geese at left. For sure the image needs CW rotation. Had you been able to lie flat on the lower ground (not sure if possible or allowed there) and with a wider aperture that could have given you a result you would have liked more.