Birds At the Lake

How can the composition and lighting of this picture be improved?

Thanks!

First, I would step back and give them more room to "walk" in the frame. Then maybe get even lower to the ground if the background isn't too cluttered looking.

As far as lighting, I think that could work once the composition is changed a little bit.

Finally, while it isn't lighting or composition - the focus seems to be off on this shot which is distracting.

crop it so u can't tell the horizontal plane is a bit off

The main things I can see in the photo are the non-straight horizon in the bg and the fact that the geese are out of focus. This may be due to shooting with a too slow shutter speed.

Well...from a compositional stand point, geese are hard to shoot because for most people they are very common place. Generally the best shots of geese and ducks are those where there is some "action"...taking off or landing on water, etc.. In the case of these guys though, they do have some interesting facial features, so I would have tried to get some close ups. Not to jack your thread, but here's an example...

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ejay79 wrote in post #6510254
First, I would step back and give them more room to "walk" in the frame. Then maybe get even lower to the ground if the background isn't too cluttered looking.

As far as lighting, I think that could work once the composition is changed a little bit.

Finally, while it isn't lighting or composition - the focus seems to be off on this shot which is distracting.

Thanks! You are right. How can I improve the focus of this shot. I was using spot metering and focusing on the bird. Should I have used a better metering?

Pen6uiN wrote in post #6510438
crop it so u can't tell the horizontal plane is a bit off

Good catch! I did not notice that! Thanks!

Walczak Photo wrote in post #6512544
Well...from a compositional stand point, geese are hard to shoot because for most people they are very common place. Generally the best shots of geese and ducks are those where there is some "action"...taking off or landing on water, etc.. In the case of these guys though, they do have some interesting facial features, so I would have tried to get some close ups. Not to jack your thread, but here's an example...

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These guys have really interesting faces, so that's a good place to put compositional emphasis. Just be warned...they can be mean little buggers! This little turd bit me right after I took this shot! LOL!!!

Now as far as the lighting goes...a good rule of thumb is to keep the sun behind you and over your shoulder. In this shot, the sun looks to have been in about the 10 o'clock position relative to the camera....I would have moved around so that the sun was more in the 5 o'clock or 7 o'clock position. Back lighting works good when you're trying to do a silhouette, but I don't think that's what you were trying to do with these shots.

Alrighty, hope this helps!
Jim

Thanks Jim! You always have great advice. That is a much more interesting picture. What lens did you use?

Get them in focus and back up a little!

marcus769 wrote in post #6516207
Get them in focus and back up a little!

ah you are right! i don't know what i was thinking. Metering is for lighting!

melindac wrote in post #6516127
Thanks Jim! You always have great advice. That is a much more interesting picture. What lens did you use?

That was the Tamron 28-80mm I bought when I first ordered my Rebel XT. I had bought the camera as a refurb on Ebay and was looking at a couple of "kits" but the Tamron worked out to be like $40 cheaper as I recall and it's been a great lens for the price. It's a little slow to focus and it's a bit noisy (although much quieter than my nifty fifty or my Sigma 17-50mm) but nothing you wouldn't expect for a sub-$100 lens.

That particular shot was one of the first days I had the Rebel out...my wife had a job interview and while she was at the interview, I drove around and did some site seeing in the area where we were (in the event that she got the job and we ended up moving there...which she/we didn't). I ended up at a place called "Aurora Farms" which is basically one of those discount outlet malls. In the center of the shopping center there was a nice lake and there were a bunch of these geese all over the place (as well as Canadian geese, a variety of ducks, etc) so I ran back to the car and grabbed the new camera. They actually let you get pretty close...there's some feed dispensers around the lake, so these guys are really used to people and getting fed, but in this case I guess I got to close because as I said before, the little SOB bit me right after I snapped this shot (which tells you how close I was!). I guess he didn't like having his picture taken. I think that incident was probably the single biggest motivating factor for my getting the 70-300mm! .

Anyways, except for my nifty fifty and one cheap Sigma, all my lenses (my EOS lenses at least) are Tamrons and I've never had a single complaint about them really...great lenses for the price. I hate to sound like a dealer, but my latest Tamron is that new 70-200mm f/2.8 and I'd easily put it on par with the Canon L's...simply an excellent lens at close to $400 cheaper than the equivalent Canon. And I do still use that 28-80mm to this day for a lot of wide angle and landscape stuff.

Peace,
Jim