African Goose Portrait

[Dave Phillips]

this goose has high overhead bad light, agreed the whole neck is flat
but the focal point for me is the eye....and I like the nostril hole. Left all the
highlight sheen to enhance the leathery texture.

400mm f/5.6L, ISO 400, 1/400, f/8, Mk2N on tripod....about 50% crop
Thanks for looking in and c/c

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Aside from the light angle this works really well. Good details, composition and BG. I particularly like the eye.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Dave,

IMO the crop in any picture is the most subjective part. That being said, I would have taken some off the bottom. Others might disagree, like Al says, its all about feel sometimes.

I like the eye and detail in beak area for a 50% crop, did you consider TTL / (-3), well done.

[James Salywoda]

Well Done! I like the head angle and excellent detail considering your lighting situation you handled it quite well.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Nice image. I might point out this is a domesticated Chinese Goose; there are two varieties, the type shown here and a white variety. Not that it matters.
Mixed lighting pretty hard to pull off. Indeed the focal point would be the eye, and you could have gotten quite a bit closer? regards~Bill
one other thing, although this bird looks identical to the ones that hang out at a local business park pond, and attack car hubcaps if the car alarm goes off, I've been incorrect before.

[Stu Bowie]

The light cast on the eye takes it over the top for me. I would even consider taking some off the bottom, to make the head more prominent.

[Morkel Erasmus]

yes the eye is dazzling. agree with Stu to lose some of the neck. nice portrait!!

[Dave Phillips]

thank you for input friends....
It has been mentioned to maybe take more off bottom......I tried and it seems the "big" head
is then without proper support.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Your self critique is good Dave. I like the eyes too and cool to see the nostril through. Thanks for sharing.