Canada Goose reflection

[Bryan Hix]

Hi, this is my first post and I am so glad that I came accross this website. The one I currently use is not very helpful with its critiques and I don't feel like I am improving like I should if people would just be honest. So, hopefully this is what happens here. I also can say that the quality of posts here is fantastic and something to aspire to.

I have been really trying to get down low for waterfowl and other ground birds as well as really paying attention to light and not keeping photos that just are not cutting the mustard. I also have switched back to manual mode because of the issue with metering when panning to various birds with different BGs in AV mode. I am looking forward to any critiques. Thanks. :)

Canon 1D Mk III
500mm f/4 w/ 1.4 TC
ISO 400 1/400th @ f/11
Spot metering. PSE 7-some BG cloning of odd vegetation.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Bryan and welcome to BPN! You've come to the right place if you're looking for the kind of honest image critiquing that will help make you a better photographer. I like the low angle of this photo. Sharpness is good. The whites look a little hot; I might have underexposed by a third. The bird is a little close to the left edge of the frame; I would add a bit of canvas if you've got it. And one more point; I think f/11 gave you more DOF than you probably needed. Opening up your aperture by a stop would have softened the BG and still given you plenty of DOF on the bird. Look forward to seeing more of your images here on BPN!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN Bryan, and excellent first post. Nice to see a Canada Goose in a natural setting. Very "clean" presentation too, the techs look perfect. I do find the bird a little tight at left. I might also either crop a bove or add below...a personal thing I have for reflection images is that I like equal space above and below. For web presentaion the face could stand a bit more sharpening, but I have no doubt the full-size version is quite sharp there :-)

Looking forward to more from you!

[Randy Stout]

Bryan:

A big welcome to BPN. You will find it a great site, some very talented folks here that will help you learn quickly.

Your bird has a good head angle, meaning it is turned slightly towards you.
The exposure looks generally good, with maybe a few hot pixels in the whites. I am on my work monitor, which isn't calibrated, so will defer to others to be sure.
The colors in the background are complimentary, and I don't find the background too busy or distracting.

Composition wise, I find it too tight on the left, just a bit more room would help.

Reflections are always a bit of a challenge. My personal feeling is, that if the reflection isn't really sharp (still water) it probably doesn't add a great deal to the image, and could perhaps be cropped out. IMHO, this one is probably blurry enough, esp. the head, that you might try a cropped version to see how it works.

To my eye, the birds eye and head aren't sharp enough, and might benefit from another round of sharpening.

You will get other opinions, but this is my take on the image.

Thanks so much for sharing, and keep them coming.

Randy

PS: Bryan, it turns out I was typing (more slowly) than Doug and Daniel, so sorry for the repeats.

[Bryan Hix]

Thanks for the fast response! One of the reasons I used f/11 is because for some reason I have been getting too shallow of DOF with some birds and wanted to make sure the whole bird was in focus. Maybe f/8 would have been better here. I have tried to micro-adjust my lens so 1/3 is focused in front and 2/3 in the back. I think I finally got it. Also, I am still battling sharpness with my 500mm f/4. It's kind of frustrating. This was taken from a car window, on a bean bag with the engine off and it still didn't produce a sharp image (probably need to keep that shutter higher). Do you guys leave the IS on when mounted on a tripod or bean bag?

[Dave Mills]

Hi Bryan, Welcome to BPN. This site is a valuable tool and I'm sure will prove useful to you.
I took the liberty of cropping the image and adding canvas to the back of the bird and filling it in. I also brought out a bit more detail in the whites. I blurred the backround a bit more and toned down certain brighter areas. I agree with others comments but just wanted to show some things that could be done...

[Randy Stout]

Bryan:

A small point on sharpness when shooting out of cars. This isn't much of a factor in Florida and warm climates I suspect, but in the Midwest and further north, the heat off the vehicle, in contrast to the cold surrounding air, can cause some distortion in images(heat wave like effects). That may not be the issue here, but I have seen it occur in the fall while chasing sandhill cranes around, and trying to shoot from the car, even with good technique.

Not all the time, but enough to keep it in mind.

Randy

[Bryan Hix]

Dave, thanks so much. So here's a slightly embarrassing admission: I don't know how to add canvas like that. I know how to add canvas to write something below, etc. I'm sure it's not difficult and I am also sure in this case that it is something I should learn to do rather soon. :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Randy, this happens to me alot and thanks for bringing it up. When I know I will be photographing from my vehicle in cooler (or downright cold) weather I keep the heat off...even during my drive to the location if I can tolerate it. If not I keep it very low, and then turn it off and open my windows well ahead of my destination to let all heat and accompanying distorting "heat waves" out of the car.

P.S. repost by DMills look good, but I prefer a bit more empty space in front.

[Doug Brown]

I have tried to micro-adjust my lens so 1/3 is focused in front and 2/3 in the back.

I think you'll find that for the super telephoto lenses, 1/2 in front and 1/2 in the back is the correct setting.

[Bryan Hix]

Dave, I just figured out how to do that. Thanks for the tip! See, I knew joining this site would pay off.

[Stu Bowie]

Welcome to BPN Bryan, ( and Im on the other side of the world ) Lovely looking goose, with a great catchlight in the eye. I like the colours and markings on him too. With regards to IS, I keep mine on the whole time on my 100-400. I havent found that it affects my still images. Repost looks good, but I too would like more space in front.

[Brian Wong]

Dave, thanks so much. So here's a slightly embarrassing admission: I don't know how to add canvas like that. I know how to add canvas to write something below, etc. I'm sure it's not difficult and I am also sure in this case that it is something I should learn to do rather soon. :)

Welcome Bryan!

If you have PS, a quick easy way to add canvas:
Duplicate the background
Select the crop tool, then crop outside to the white area (larger size)
Select the rectangular selection tool, and outline from your left frame up to the bird's tail.
Then use the Free Transform tool, stretch out to the left to create your new canvas.

Of course, there are many other ways. This tip works for small extension that have a pretty even background. Hope that helps.

[Art Kornienko]

Welcome Bryan, you'll learn a lot here guaranteed, and you'll get very selective before you post as a result. I thought your shot was very nice, especially the calm water and reflection, lighting is nice too, maybe just a bit more room on the left, but do pay heed to the experienced comments above.

[Bryan Hix]

Aboslutely Art. As I look through my files, suddenly my files I thought were decent are not so much now. Like I said, this site gives one something to aspire too. I can't wait for spring migration up here to start to improve my images and techniques.