Canada Goose

[Manny Gonzalez]

Only one pic from me for the thread for some initial critique... I have many others but this one applied most of what I [think] I learned in the seminar.

[Marina Scarr]

Thank you for posting picture for critique, Manny. When you have the time, I would be helpful if you could post your equipment or at least the settings you used for this capture.

You have a very nice head angle here and a pleasing BG. I wonder if you have any idea what's in the goose's mouth? I think you picked a very nice composition for this bird. The light was a little harsh when you took this capture, but I think it turned out quite well.

Are you taking a class in nature photography?

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Manny, and welcome to BPN! Please read the posting guidelines at the top of the forum home page. We would like to know your technical information and shooting conditions in order to make better comments.

You have a nice background here, although it is a bit on the bright side relative to the bird. Nice job of handling the whites and blacks in the image, this is always a challenge especially in direct sun. The bit of food in the bill adds interest. Good color rendition and detail. Look forward to more posts.

[Manny Gonzalez]

Thanks Marina, Kerry,

I always leave my ExIF data intact in my images so I take it for granted that the info is ready to access :) But here goes

Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3
Lens: 200.0-400.0 mm f/4.0
Image Date: 2011-03-19 12:496 -0400
Focal Length: 400mm (35mm equivalent: 400mm)
Focus Distance: 3.35m
Aperture: f/7.1
Exposure Time: 0.0016 s (1/640)
ISO equiv: 200
Exposure Bias: -0.33 EV
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB

I was actually out shooting my favorite subject, Airplanes... and this guy kept hanging around so I shot him :-) The light was definitely harsh and I aimed to just barely clip the whites in the blinkies knowing the histogram/blinkies are using the JPG I knew I had some room in RAW. But again, here to learn learn learn.

The bit in the mouth was actually stuck there. Not sure what it was. I think it may have been garbage/plastic :-( This part of L.I. has a lot of garbage in the wild which is a shame.

Thanks again for your advice and critique.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Good advise above, I thing the stuff in the mouth weakens the image. Looks like you were going for a portrait here, if so considering making it regal, powerful and removing distracting elements. One voice is to show the subject in all its beauty and another is to show something different if that was your intention then alright - well done. Just curious, what was the story here?

Exposure is nice, background well controlled you are on the right track here - keep em coming.

[Faraaz Abdool]

First of all, excellent job exposing the whites and blacks properly. Background is good too, and your composition is also pleasing. Technically a very good portrait photo. Maybe a slight head turn toward you may have given the photo a bit more 'feel' to it. Keep it up!