Gosling in the water

[Indranil Sircar]

I was tracking a pair goslings who were eventually pushed into the water probably for the first time by their parents. Initially the parents were closely watching my movements. After a while they let the goslings get close to me. Here are the settings -

40D + Sigma 50-500mm @ 500mm
1/250 sec, f/8 Mode: Av Metering: Evaluative Exp comp: -1/3 ISO: 400, tripod with Mongoose M3.5

I guess a lower angle would have been better. Any feedback would be appreciated.

~ Indranil

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice textures in the water and downy plumage. Lower angle may have been a little nicer. Critical focus seems more on the back than the head and eye - a bit of selective sharpening may help.

[Stu Bowie]

Cute little guy, and love the all over detail on him. A lower angle would have been good.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Lovely image and excellent detail. I too would wish for a slightly lower angle if that was possible. Thanks for sharing indrani.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Indranil. A lower angle would definitely have helped this image. But the focus isn't quite at the high standard you've set with your recent photos. I'd go back and try to get another series of images of this cute little guy. Go for a slightly faster shutter speed.

[Jasper Doest]

It seems like you tried to save the highlights here with some shadow/highlights tool (correct me if I'm wrong), but it makes the bird look a bit dirty. You're right about the shooting-angle, going lower would pull this over the top.

[Indranil Sircar]

Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like the low angle is the issue but as Tony and Doug pointed out it also has to do with the focus. I went back to check on the focus points and Tony was correct as it was more towards the lower back.

It seems like you tried to save the highlights here with some shadow/highlights tool (correct me if I'm wrong), but it makes the bird look a bit dirty. You're right about the shooting-angle, going lower would pull this over the top.

Jasper, thanks for looking up. With this one I avoided S/H. I instead used the recovery in ACR to get some additional details. Well, just as Doug has suggested, I will go back and look around for more goslings and hopefully will get it right.