Last month I had a great time leading some events at the Winter Wings Festival in the Lower Klamath Basin (near the Oregon-California border). I didn’t have too many opportunities to photograph stuff, but during one of our field trips I had some time to pick up the camera for a Snow Goose liftoff.
Despite the fact that I often see Snow Geese during my occasional outings closer to home in Washington, I’ve never had much luck with witnessing the massive takeoffs up close. In this case, we had a good number of birds, but they happened to take off in the opposite direction. I took some time to slow my shutter speed and see what sort of abstracts might work, since a sharp shot full of goose butts wasn’t really what I was looking for. I liked the way this one turned out, mainly thanks to the patterns created by the black wing tips. It reminds me of the days back in art class, making brush strokes with Sumi ink.
Canon 1DXII
Canon 600mm + 1.4x
ISO 125
1/60th
f/22
Nice abstract. I agree the black lines make the photo.
As an aside, I was not able to make the WWF this year, so I didn’t have a photo in the contest. Having been there before and going out to photograph birds in inclement weather, I must say I am disappointed to see that captive birds were allowed to be entered into the contest, let alone win.
Love the blur and density of the composition. You really get the feeling you are in a blizzard of wings. This captures the essence of flying. Great job.
The density is well balanced and contrast is perfect - truly a work of art.
Thank you for sharing.
Wow, that is super! You’re right - it’s the black wing tips that really make this pop. It must have been quite a sound to hear them all take off at the same time.
A very nice abstract of the blast-off, Max. I think the cloudy sky actually worked in your favor in this case as I really like the gray background against the black and white birds.
