Canada Goose coming in

[wendell westfall]

D90 70-200VR@200 1/2000 f5.6 ISO400 -1EV handheld

Last week I was photographing an egret (thus the -1EV) on a small lake in a small public park when a flock of about 30 Canada Geese, honking away, came in for a crowded group landing on the water. Of the three in-flight images I managed to get off, this is my best. Unfortunately, the background was cluttered with a light pole and a car in the distance. So, the background of this image is PPed -- Cloned only -- more than any I've ever done before. Except for the extensive background Cloning, the image is as out-of-camera (and I believe a little crowded).

Wendell

[carole wiley]

Hi Wendell,
Other than the ulc the background doesn't bother me much. There is a line on the left bottom from cloning. Other than that, I think you have a nice sharp image with good catch light and nice feather detail. I love the feet! People don't pay enough attention to these guys.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I like this one, it tells a story and shows the beauty of flight. Yes, you could work on smoothing the background and as noted by Carole there are some cloning lines visible. Let me tell you what I like, I can see the form in the simple art of landing and with all the feathers showing this is a beautiful shot. Light looks good, you caught a clean eye and a nice focus on a single subject. A little tight for me more room to breath would have helped. The detail in the wings is great and the light shadows add a range of depth. Nice capture of a great species and beautiful moment in nature.

[Joel Eade]

Wendall, fabulous pose, HA, exposure and sharpness. Go ahead and finish fixing the background including the LUC. Maybe run a Gaussian blur or more noise reduction on the BG as well. The look at extending the canvas a little on top and on the left.
Great image, worth working on for sure.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Wendell, good catch! These big cruisers are pretty tough to get at this distance as they are really large in your frame. I agree it's a little cramped but still an excellent image. No need to apologize for your exposure here, it was just right. I'm guessing that your egret would be overexposed at that setting. Nice wing detail and landing pose. I love the dangling feet!

[wendell westfall]

Carole, Jeff, Joel, Kerry . . . thanks for looking . . .