Barnacle Flight

[Mike Veltri]

Went looking for a Harliquin duck that was reported in the same area that the Barnacle goose has been hanging around. It was a rather dreary day and no luck with the Harliquin, but I did managed several flight shots of the Barnacle goose. Here is one as it flys out over the snow covered bay.

Happy New years to all.



Canon 1D MarkIII
Canon 500mm F/4 IS
1/2000s
F/4.5
ISO 800
Handheld

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Mike - This is a facinating photo. The goose looks a little surreal in the wing area - HDRish - to better decribe it. When you get to the head area we have a tack sharp, conventional look with an angle toward your camera that cannot be better. Also, the perfectly horizontal head position is awesome in this photo. Finally, the background is beautiful with the cloudy blue and snowy foreground - all a bit heavenly in appearance. Some might feel that you are tight on the left but the bird's bill is still adequately distanced from the frame for me. Thanks for a unique look at a somewhat colorless bird.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the range of white, gray and black that this image presents. The wing position and position of the goose in the frame are perfect to me. A real beauty Mike!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Pose, angle, wing position and sharpness look very good. I'm not familiar with this species but the wings confuse me a little. They look as if you desaturated them, is this due to the light?

[ChasMcRae]

I Like the image and the wings look almost painted.
Good job with the whites in association with blacks on a cloudy day.
People hand-holding a 500mm even at 1/2000 sec still amazes me but more and more seem to be pulling it off.

[Arthur Morris]

I do not know this bird well but I know that I love this pretty much B&W image. You gotta love digital and ISO 800. Both the upperwing and underwing detail is superb. Thank you snow for the former. :)

[Mike Veltri]

Pose, angle, wing position and sharpness look very good. I'm not familiar with this species but the wings confuse me a little. They look as if you desaturated them, is this due to the light?

No I did not desaturate them, the inner wing would be light be the reflection of the snow, as well as the outer wing. I will post another image later with the bird in some better sun light. The species is from Greenland and Europe and is a rare visitor at the moment.

[Lorant Voros]

Fantastic pose, sharpness, detail and I love the snowy background. I am not familiar with the bird, but this is a killer image. Well done.