My first post - Canada Goose

[Matt Tucker]

Canon EOS 1D - Canon 400/5.6L - handheld
1/500 @ f7.1 ISO 200 Aperture Priority +2/3

I got down as low as possible but the far shoreline is so close that it brought the horizon through the goose's neck.
I tried to expose for the blacks which made the breast feathers over exposed. I processed the raw image twice and used a layer mask to bring detail from the darker image into the breast.

I'm looking forward to your comments. Don't hold back. I'm eager to learn.

Matt

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Matt, welcome to BPN and Eager To Learn! We are happy to see you here and hope you enjoy the site and all it has to offer. This is super first post with a lot to like! I think the angle works, especially for such a big bird - it gets the viewer to eye-level. Your self-critique is very good and I agree on all counts - the horizon line and exposure issues are the opportunities in this image. I would add that I might crop a little from the left and bottom. I really like the head angle, pose, and sharp eye. Well done, looking forward to more and please make comments on other posts, this helps us all out.

[Ian Cassell]

Hi Matt, and a hearty welcome from me as well! I agree with Kerry on his critique. I might be tempted to crop off a little more FG to reduce the amount of blur leading into the image. Keep sharing -- this was an excellent first go!

[Matt Tucker]

Thanks Kerry and Ian.
Most of my exposure issues were due to the fact that this was shot at around noon. Shooting in better light should help.
I agree that taking some off the bottom and a little from the left would help but I struggle with how much to crop and maintain IQ. I am shooting with the original 1D which is only 4 megapixels. What I posted is 54% of the original image. I know I can get away with a larger crop on the web but I would like to think I can print these images as well and maintain the IQ. Your thoughts?

Matt

[John Chardine]

I agree on all counts. First welcome from me Matt! The slow angle makes the image for me, although other aspects are also really good. I agree with Kerry about the crop- right now the bird is a tad too centred. Although I like the OOF water I think you could do with a little less at the bottom too. Take a look at the water, which (almost) never lies (!), and consider a small CCW rotation of the image. Many thanks for posting and looking forward to seeing many more from you!

[John Chardine]

Thanks Kerry and Ian.
Most of my exposure issues were due to the fact that this was shot at around noon. Shooting in better light should help.
I agree that taking some off the bottom and a little from the left would help but I struggle with how much to crop and maintain IQ. I am shooting with the original 1D which is only 4 megapixels. What I posted is 54% of the original image. I know I can get away with a larger crop on the web but I would like to think I can print these images as well and maintain the IQ. Your thoughts?

Matt

Re. your question about printing, for sure you can print from your image. You are more limited as to size of print but with the 1D at 240 dpi you could make a 10 x 7" print. Plenty of much larger prints have been made with less resolution too. You have a classic camera there!