Crowded Snowgoose flyoff

[Terry Olmsted]

This is a revision based on Arthur Morris's suggestion. I like this better.

Taken Nov. 30, 2007 on the Skagit Flats, Washington. The sounds and sight of a snowgoose flyoff (in this case caused by an eagle overflight) are truly amazing. Be sure to wear a hat when this happens :).

Canon XTi 400mm f5.6L 1/3200s f5.6 ISO 1600 ex comp +1 ctr wgt metering

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I'd love to see this sometime. So, how many birds are in this image? :)

[Fabs Forns]

Wish I had one like this!!! Been trying for 3 years but never thick enough.

Super cool!

[Terry Olmsted]

I felt this full frame version suffered from having to use a very high compression in order to meet the file size requirements. The initial post above is a crop of this frame. No edits other than very minor sharpening.

[Terry Olmsted]

The numbers are in the thousands - I believe the overall count recently was 10,000.

[Bonnie Block]

:eek:Holy Cow!!
Unbelievable, Terry! Hope you did not stand underneath them! ;)

[Anita Rakestraw]

Geez, that's awesome!! Would certainly be worth seeing! Looks like you got a pretty sharp image throughout!

[Robert D. Gregg]

Hey Terry,

How about having your gorgeous capture made into a puzzle? :)

BigBob...

[Terry Olmsted]

Hi Bob, Great idea :)

Terry

[D. Robert Franz]

I love images like this. You filled out the frame to the 4 corners, excellent... I counted 2435 and 1/2 birds in the frame.. Anyone care to differ with my count??????

[Harold Davis]

that is truly awesome. would like to see that sometime myself!!

[Terry Olmsted]

Just for fun, here's a closer crop of the same frame. Might help you count :)

[Arthur Morris]

The full frame version is my favorite by miles. The more you crop, the more you see the noise... A semi-pano crop (all from the bottom) on that one might be the most powerful.

Later and love, artie

[Terry Olmsted]

Thanks very much for the input, Artie. I liked the full version best too, but as I said I thought it lost a lot in compression. It was a spectacular moment!

I revised the initial image to reflect your suggestion. I like it better!
Terry

[Jody Melanson]

Nice abstract!

[Todd Frost]

Terry,
Very nice image. It is an amazing sight to see these bird take off ! Its been a little over a year since I made it up that way. Are they still using propane cannons to scare them off the fields? They didn't seem to have much affect as I recall.
Todd

[Terry Olmsted]

Hi Todd - Hunting season for them just ended (on Jan 28th I think). Some farms do use the propane canons, but overall, I think they are considered regular visitors and generally accepted. Its truly awesome to be where they congregate. They will be around through March, so come on up.
Terry

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Congrats,great timing!!!

[Travis Novitsky]

Geez.....wall to wall birds without any noticeable gap.....incredible! Must have been quite a sight. Nice one, Terry.