Snow Ninja

[Randy Stout]

This Canada goose was captured last week during a snow flurry. He was coming in for a landing. I liked the extreme wing position, dangling feet, and snowy effect.

D500 500PF. f/7.1 1.3200s, ISO 1400. HH

Post: LRCC PS2020. Added a bit of canvas below. Did increase the contrast on the bird because of the very soft light.

Advice and comments always appreciated .

Cheers

Randy

[David Roach]

Love the snowy mood and everything about the pose. That out stretched wing and turned head with calling pose make it for me. Some may find the lines in BG distracting, but I like the loose radial pattern bringing my eyes to bird. Maybe boost mid tones on bird for even better view of that wing. TFS

ps
The falling snow...

[Brian Sump]

I think this is beautiful Randy. Geese don't get much love but when you get a unique flight pose with tongue out, it's quite enjoyable.

Details from front to back and wing to wing on the subject and the snow adds.

TFS.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the pose and the open bill, snow adds a lot too. I see some motion blur in the head area ...


TFS

[gail bisson]

This is one of those images that doesn't look like much on the thumbnail but when I open it up, I am really pleasantly surprised!
I really like this!
Love the perfect HA, open bill, the snow and the wing position.
Really well done.
For my taste, I would love a bit more room behind and below the bird.
TFS,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for your input. I agree about a bit more room per Gail's comment.

Arash: I would be surprised to get motion blur at 1/3200s with a relatively slow moving bird like this. But you have more experience with BIF than I

Cheers

Randy

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super shot, I like the head and the wing position.
Just for curiosity I would suggest select midtones 3, apply a gentle curve eg linear at 43%, it increases the perception of sharpness.

[Randy Stout]

Jon:

Good suggestion about the contrast. Because it was a dim, snowy day, I left the contrast fairly soft, but did a version with a bit more mid range pop. Thoughts?

Randy

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Randy .... what a cool shot .
Love everything , all works well for me . Cool peeping of the head and the fully stretched wing is super cool .
RP is better in the wings .... but the head got to dark IMHO .
But personally I can greatly live with the OP in terms of tonal range .

TFS Andreas

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks everyone for your input. I agree about a bit more room per Gail's comment.

Arash: I would be surprised to get motion blur at 1/3200s with a relatively slow moving bird like this. But you have more experience with BIF than I

Cheers

Randy

Randy, it is certainly possible to get motion blur even 1/3200, I have seen it quite a bit. Usually happens when the bird is close and panning is lagging behind

the bill and tongue area look a bit soft to me, could be motion blur or focus, or just simple sharpening I can't really tell from here..it's minor and subjective anyway :)

[Randy Stout]

Arash:

Thanks for your input. I wish we had a bit more light in Michigan during the winter, always juggling SS vs. ISO!

Cheers

Randy

[Jim Crosswell]

Randy this image is awesome! Love the pose, setting, composition and great title!