Canadian Geese in Flight and more...

[pathfinder]

I got out today for a little walk in the wetlands area east of town - reclaimed land from strip mining, now mostly scattered lakes and grasses and a few trees.

The trees are budding out and spring is definitely here.

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19900145-L.jpg

I did not see many birds about, but then I heard them coming. Sometimes you can hear Canadian Geese before you can see them - that was the case today - One quick flight past and they were gone.

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19877912-M.jpg

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19877861-M.jpg

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19878140-M.jpg

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19878511-L.jpg

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19901257-L.jpg

I also saw a Red Wing Blackbird in the grass

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19900266-M.jpg

And in the trees

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19900936-L.jpg

I need to explore this area more thoroughly throughout the year:):

[Harryb]

BIFS and more:
OMG!! I'm going blind! I can't see one darn goose.

[jwear]

OMG!! I'm going blind! I can't see one darn goose. Harry it's in the more part:D

[Andy]

BIFS and more:

no piccies

[GREAPER]

I am not jumpin on this pick on pathfinder bandwagon, give him a break, he's new.....

[pathfinder]

I am not jumpin on this pick on pathfinder bandwagon, give him a break, he's new.....


Hit your browser reload button, guys!!

[Harryb]

Hit your browser reload button, guys!!
Thanks PF. Excellent shots. :thumb

[GREAPER]

They were worth commin back for Pathfinder.

The geese in flight are wonderful.

This is my favorite. Fantastic.

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19878511-S.jpg

[jwear]

bif are great but the last one is my favorite :thumb :clap second go round worked :D

[John Mueller]

Very nice PF,
Yes spring is here:)::clap
Thanks for sharing

[ginger_55]

I love geese, nice job on getting them into your lens. That part always impresses me.

ginger

[Steve Cavigliano]

PF,
I agree with everyone else :agree

These are all very nice :thumb :thumb Love the Spring colors and I like the close shots of the Honkers :clap


Steve

[Andy]

nice light, light makes the pics pf..

:thumb


edit: whoa - look at the exif (http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=19900478)!

[Khaos]

:thumb :thumb Fantastic series of geese in flight! Love 'em.

[tmlphoto]

Very nice Path, veeery nice!

[pathfinder]

nice light, light makes the pics pf..

:thumb


edit: whoa - look at the exif (http://Pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=19900478)!


Yeah, Andy, I think the light is still trapped in that camera - It just seems to do a very nice job! It should considering it's previous owner trained it well. :D

The BIFs I enjoyed capturing, but my favorite was the high key shot with the blackbird as a grace note - I saw the high key potential when I shot it.:):
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19900266-S.jpg

[bfjr]

Like em all pf :thumb
Got a few of those red wing blackbirds spurting around here gonna see if can't shoot a few, thanks sharing :clap

[pathfinder]

Steve, Ginger, Khaos, TML - Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. :):

I have just a few more images from Sunday that I have worked up. The first is just a descriptive shot of the area I was shooting in Sunday - an old reclaimed strip mine. Kind of a busy shot, but I think it displays the area.

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20015699-L.jpg

When you're shooting wildlife - sometimes stuff just seems to fly into your frame....:dunno This is NOT a composite, but straight from the black box. I've had this happen with butterflies before, but not with birds.:dunno

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20015690-L.jpg
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/6701844-M.jpg

To return to the name of this thread - one more BIF

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19900803-L.jpg

[rutt]

Beautiful as usual, every one. I espacially like the geese in flight shots. I can just feel how it must be for them to fly, the sensuous interplay of the air currents on their feathers.

The monarch butterfly (that is what is it?) is stunning.

The first shot is oversharpened to my eye, but not the last. Maybe your workflow hasn't settled into the new camera? I would think that more resolution would stand a larger radius, but maybe then you need a smaller amount (or opacity if you use blending for this.) Grass and shrubbery are absolutely the hardest things to sharpen, especially if there is a foreground element that you are really trying to hit. I have some advice on this topic from Dan Margulis, but it absolutely doesn't make sense to me yet. I'll post on the PS forum and everyone can puzzle over it.

[Andy]

S

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20015699-Ti.jpg



lovely 'scape.

When you're shooting wildlife - sometimes stuff just seems to fly into your frame....:dunno This is NOT a composite, but straight from the black box. I've had this happen with butterflies before, but not with birds.:dunno

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20015690-Ti.jpg

marvelous! love teh rwbb in flight there, this is wonderful. just wonderful.

[MuskyDude]

Terrific shots, ALL of them!!!:clap :clap :clap

Thanks for sharing!:):

AJ

[ian408]

Love the birds in flight!

Ian

[pathfinder]

Beautiful as usual, every one. I espacially like the geese in flight shots. I can just feel how it must be for them to fly, the sensuous interplay of the air currents on their feathers.

Sometimes we are just standing in the right place at the right time - I was already thinking that the sun was too high for good images when I HEARD the geese coming. All these shots were taken as only these two geese flew by bang, bang, bang, bang. And then they were gone. There were no others to be seen - I spent another hour looking for more. But the light was reflected enough from the water below to allow capturing the detail in the shadows of their wings. Sometimes we're the bug, sometimes we're the windshield.

The monarch butterfly (that is what is it?) is stunning.

The first shot is oversharpened to my eye, but not the last. Maybe your workflow hasn't settled into the new camera? I would think that more resolution would stand a larger radius, but maybe then you need a smaller amount (or opacity if you use blending for this.) Grass and shrubbery are absolutely the hardest things to sharpen, especially if there is a foreground element that you are really trying to hit. I have some advice on this topic from Dan Margulis, but it absolutely doesn't make sense to me yet. I'll post on the PS forum and everyone can puzzle over it.

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/19900145-S.jpg
John, I would love to discuss the sharpening of the spring trees with you, but perhaps not on Harry's forum. I had the same concerns when I processed it - I went back and looked at my edit history - the numbers were 500%, 1.2 pixels( Lots of fine detail), and 26 for a threshold. But this was done on a layer and then only blended at 51%. I think the focus was actually on the larger trees behind the purple flowers and this may contribute. Lets discuss this further on the Photoshop Shananigans thread as I hope to learn some more from you in this regard.

The Red Wing Blackbird in flight behind the goose, and the little Skipper approaching the Monarch are just sheer luck - just happening to be in the right place at the right time.

Being in the outdoors with a camera helps one to be lucky of course :D

[pathfinder]

lovely 'scape. http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20015699-S.jpg

Thanks Andy for you kind words.

I thought it looked kind of busy after post processing, but this is a wide angle ( 28mm - not that wide but it is for me) that I planned in advance with the foreground cat tails, the grass in the middle with the reflection, and the tree in the background. It is so nice when others can see what we saw in our mind. :):

[Mike-Photos]

These are stunning shots!

I'm glad to inform you they landed safely here in Canada:

http://MikeKatz.smugmug.com/photos/20336687-L.jpg


Thanks also for the name of the Red Wing Blackbird, I have one here too:
http://MikeKatz.smugmug.com/photos/20336689-L.jpg

[jthomas]

I was going to photograph redbud blossoms today too, but it was snowing and messy here in the SW Virginia mountains.:cry

Great goose pics - they remind me of David Maas paintings!:thumb

[Phil U.]

Man, I had missed this thread. Glad the activity continued so I saw it. Really nice set of photos here PF! :clap

[pathfinder]

These are stunning shots!

I'm glad to inform you they landed safely here in Canada:

http://MikeKatz.smugmug.com/photos/20336687-S.jpg


Thanks also for the name of the Red Wing Blackbird, I have one here too:
http://MikeKatz.smugmug.com/photos/20336689-S.jpg

I'm glad they arrived safely. :D

[pathfinder]

Man, I had missed this thread. Glad the activity continued so I saw it. Really nice set of photos here PF! :clap

I'm glad you saw it too Phil. Sometimes threads can get buried for no particular reason. I think Rutt or Andy or Ian resurected this one this time.:dunno

[ginger_55]

Hi, I was just struck by your statement of the short period of time you had with those geese.

Were you praying that your lens would focus, or does yours just lock in all the time. Sometimes things are good with me, I shot so much yesterday that I was bound to get some Bifs, and my lens behaved itself pretty good.

But if those geese had come by me, I am not sure that my lens would focus.

Do you have a secret to share. I do know that if you can get locked in further away it seems to stay on all the way, but if they honk and come up close to me like that, my darn lens can't seem to find them. Sometimes I can see them, and the lens is so out of focus, and it might even come into focus and then go back out, especially if there are trees and stuff behind, or in front, or anywhere.

And I see you did have that situation.

Ginger

[ian408]

Do you have a secret to share.

Ginger
Practice. It's all about practice.

Ian

[pathfinder]

Hi, I was just struck by your statement of the short period of time you had with those geese.

Were you praying that your lens would focus, or does yours just lock in all the time. Sometimes things are good with me, I shot so much yesterday that I was bound to get some Bifs, and my lens behaved itself pretty good.

But if those geese had come by me, I am not sure that my lens would focus.

Do you have a secret to share. I do know that if you can get locked in further away it seems to stay on all the way, but if they honk and come up close to me like that, my darn lens can't seem to find them. Sometimes I can see them, and the lens is so out of focus, and it might even come into focus and then go back out, especially if there are trees and stuff behind, or in front, or anywhere.

And I see you did have that situation.

Ginger


Ginger - Autofocus works very well sometimes and can sometimes be frustrating as can be. On the 20D I prefer using the center AF point a lot if I am having less than perfect AF lock. Faster lenses and more light do help a lot also.

One other tip is that Canon's telephotos can be confused if they are not nearly in focus - that is to say that if the lens is focused very close and the subject is near infinity the lens can search quite a bit. The Canon L teles allow you to focus manually without turning off the AF to get them close - AF will usualy lock in real quickly once you get them close. That can be very helpful when you are shooting a bird in the midst of tree limbs or grass blowing in the wind like with this Red Wing Black Bird. He would pop in and out of focus due to the wind blowing the grass around, so manual focus helped keep it sharp. Try it - I think it will help with your 400f5.6 L also.

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20445224-L.jpg

And another

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/20445236-L.jpg

[SusanB]

Nice series of shots and super sharp captures of the pairs of geese in flight:clap :clap


Susan