Yellow-billed geese in formation

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

One of the shots from a morning's shoot. On the one hand I would have liked a little less blur in the last duck but on the other hand it adds a feeling of movement so I guess it has a purpose. Love the nice feather patterns and colours too.

One round of USM in PS.

D600
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED-IF + TC14E II
f/5.6 | 1/1000s | 800 ISO | HH

All C & C's welcome

[William Dickson]

Lovely details on the birds and a nice BG. If it were mine I would have left the OOF bird out of the image.

[Satish Ranadive]

Superb flight shot. Very nice wing positions in the first two bird. I like the colors and details. Would add some space infront on birds.
You can try the version suggested by William.

Regards,
Satish.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Lovely details on the birds and a nice BG. If it were mine I would have left the OOF bird out of the image.

Thanks William - and thanks for commenting. I've got another shot without any OOF birds. I'll place it in a follow-up thread.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice the get three in the frame, good exposure. they are slightly flying away from us and the details seem to be lacking quite a bit with too much sharpening.

TFS

[Diane Miller]

Good to see this much detail in them, though the light is a little flat.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

nice the get three in the frame, good exposure. they are slightly flying away from us and the details seem to be lacking quite a bit with too much sharpening.

TFS

Thanks for looking Sharaz. I've found the same, depending on the browser used - Firefox seems perfect and IE is horrible. It would be interesting to know which browser you're using. It's vulnerable to beeing seen perfectly because of the distance from the birds - loss of detail in IE shows up immediately because of the small size of their eyes.

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks for looking Sharaz. I've found the same, depending on the browser used - Firefox seems perfect and IE is horrible. It would be interesting to know which browser you're using. It's vulnerable to beeing seen perfectly because of the distance from the birds - loss of detail in IE shows up immediately because of the small size of their eyes.

colors may depend on the browser (some browsers are not color managed) but the details do not. the coarse details like above usually come from too much crop, soft focus or too much NR combined with aggressive sharpening.

best luck

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

colors may depend on the browser (some browsers are not color managed) but the details do not. the coarse details like above usually come from too much crop, soft focus or too much NR combined with aggressive sharpening.

best luck

Thanks Sharaz. I'm not really seeing the 'coarse details' you're referring to but I'll go back to the image and review my actions (can't remember what I've done but I rarely go beyond one round of mild USM to sharpen things up a bit). The crop might have been quite substancial though.

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks Sharaz. I'm not really seeing the 'coarse details' you're referring to but I'll go back to the image and review my actions (can't remember what I've done but I rarely go beyond one round of mild USM to sharpen things up a bit). The crop might have been quite substancial though.

The lack of fine feather detail is quite evident, just compare to some of the other shots posted. Can you post the full frame?

I don't know who Sharaz is BTW?

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I don't know who Sharaz is BTW?

Ha ha! Sorry mate, it's still very early on this side of the globe - I have a friend 'Sharaz' and your name always reminds me of him - I'll try to focus next time!

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

just compare to some of the other shots posted

Very difficult as the others' birds are much closer than mine - cropping these closer is not an option as they were too far away...

[arash_hazeghi]

Very difficult as the others' birds are much closer than mine - cropping these closer is not an option as they were too far away...

I think that is the problem, too far away = too much cropping = poor IQ. Next time try to get closer if you can

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I think that is the problem, too far away = too much cropping = poor IQ. Next time try to get closer if you can

If only bird flight paths were known in advance... Basically that translates to "Don't place a pic unless you can bring the bird(s) in really close" and I'm not too sure I support that, but I guess it's a personal thing.

[arash_hazeghi]

If only bird flight paths were known in advance... Basically that translates to "Don't place a pic unless you can bring the bird(s) in really close" and I'm not too sure I support that, but I guess it's a personal thing.

When You shoot birds from a quarter mile away they will be small in the frame and have no detail, no matter which direction they fly. Try to get closer to a pond or a river where they take off or land, where you can get them at eye level with a better BG and at closer distance.

Sometimes a small bird in the frame works great if you combine it with a nice landscape or a nice BG or some other element to complement it, but here with empty sky it does not work.

hope this helps