Coming in to join the others

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
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Coming in to join the others
Coming in to join the others1500Ă—1000 399 KB

Last Friday we went out to Whitewater Draw and were treated with a large flight of the birds. First the snow geese, then the Sandhill Cranes followed. The cranes came back quickly and the snow geese followed a few minutes later. This was my first time experiencing this so it was hard to even take the time to photograph it. I liked this photo the most because some of the snow geese had landed and others can be seen landing and also still in full flight. That landscape and even the tree seemed to fit in well.

Type of Critique Requested

  • Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
  • Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
  • Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
  • Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.

Specific Feedback and Self-Critique

I did not crop here, but I did remove birds that were mostly out of the FOV. Those that were mostly in there I left.

Technical Details

R6m2 RF 100-500 at 100mm 1/1600 f/22 ISO 1600 on a tripod. The new head I recently got worked very well for ease of movement. Photo AI, some contrast adjustments. I used a mask down where the sandhill cranes were to lower the exposure just a tad.

2 Likes
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Personally, I struggle with these types of flight shots, but I think you pulled this off very well. The setting adds a lot with the mountains in the background. I like the angle you caught them at, with the geese flying towards you and with the large number of birds on the ground and even the ones in the water add to the story.

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Hello, I agree with Allen…I struggle with this kind of shot…there is so much story to tell here. I love the mix of geese and cranes and the environment is intriguing to me. I do find the tree on the right distracting. (Because I am not great at cloning out something like the tree so I might try a different aspect ratio). Always amazing to see hundreds of birds in one place. Glad your tripod worked well!