Goose

[higabyte]

Got one more for critiquing, please... Thank you!


Nikon D50
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 1/500
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 200mm
Lens: 55-200mm f/4-5.6

*edit*
After doing some reasearch, I'm inclined to believe this is a Greylag Goose, Western Greylag (Scientific - "Anser anser anser") more specifically.

[Angela]

I've never seen this type of goose before.

I like the shot the clarity of the goose and the blurred background.

Very nice.

[clockdoc]

Hi,
While the technical aspects of your shot are good (focus, tonal quality, color) I have a few suggestions. The central placement of the goose in profile pretty much leaves the right hand side empty of any real subject matter. Was there a reason you cut the goose off at the place you did? The light splash of tone in the background splits the image in half and distracts more than strengthens the shot. Were you close enough to hve used a little fill-flash to add a catchlight to its eye and brighten the shadow detail? The f/5.6 aperture (probably wide-open at 200mm) is effective at blurring the background giving good separation. Thanks for sharing your photo with us.

[higabyte]

I took another one, full body as well, but I decided to cut it off where I did to try and attain some sort of creativity.. lol I'm very uncreative! I could have done fill flash, however, although I have read some on it, I don't really know how to do it nor have I ever tried it.. =( Any tips/tricks for fill flash for someone who has never used it?

Here is the full body shot:


Nikon D50
Aperture: f/5.3
Shutter: 1/200
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 145mm
Lens: 55-200mm f/4-5.6

[rdaw]

I like the full shot better - I like the fact that uncropped, you gain the post in the water near the goose's tail - it gives context to the more-blurred post in the water in front of the goose. And whatever the goose is sitting on has great texture.
But I hear you about crop/no-crop - I sometimes think that my most frequently used command in Photoshop is "undo crop"

[knickers71uk]

Yeah the full shot is much better, I like it, with the shadow going off to the left gives it depth.

[higabyte]

thanks for the info guys, for clarification though, the images are two separate ones, not a crop... (different focal lengths)

[purplepixie]

Lovely shot prefer the 2nd full image, but don't be put off experimenting with cropping other subjects, sometimes it works wonders. (It's always useful to shoot both cropped and uncropped)

[clockdoc]

Hi and thanks for posting the full frame shot of the goose. Don't sell yourself short on being creative. That comes with doing lots of shooting and experimenting. The first 5,000 shots are the hardest. 8-) Seriously, I am happy that you are out there taking pictures and posting them. As for flash-fill. Read the manual (which may not help much) and it will get you started. With many digital cameras, the shutter speed will be slowed down to take in the available light for the aperture selected for the flash. So sometimes you may get a double or blurred image when you weren't expecting one. However, this is another chance to experiment and get creative. Fortunately with digital cameras we can see the results of our test shots immediately unlike with film cameras. So get out there and try some flash fill---don't worry about being creative--just yet. I'll be happy to help where I can.