Snow Goose REFLECTION (Chen Caerulescens, Oie des neiges) Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com All Rights Reserved. Canon EOS 1DsMKIII, 500mm F4 Lens with 2X II Teleconverter, tripod and Wimberley Head II. ISO 250, F16, 1/400s in Manual Mode - no flash. CLICK HERE TO ORDER A PRINT OR LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION.
I photographed Snow Geese in Quebec and New Mexico this past fall and am in the process of making a submission, so I thought I'd share one of my favorites. I was carefully moving around trying to isolate single birds on the calm water when I noticed this bird stretch it's wings. Although I missed the initial wing-strech, I was able to eventually isolate it and patiently wait for it to repeat it's behavior; as birds often do. I was extremely lucky, as just a few short seconds after this capture, another Goose moved in a blocked my view, as often happens.
Snow Goose LANDING with iron oxide stain (Chen Caerulescens, Oie des neiges) Reservoir Beaudette, Victoriaville, Quebec Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com All Rights Reserved. Canon EOS 1DMKIII, 500mm F4 Lens with 2X II Teleconverter, tripod and Wimberley Head II. ISO 500, F8, 1/1000s in Manual Mode. CLICK HERE TO ORDER A PRINT OR LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION.
Snow Geese often have red stains on their heads from gathering food in mud containing iron oxides.
More Kudos...
...I am a reasonably good nature photographer, and have always been interested in macro photography (especially flowers). I enrolled in this workshop to learn bird photography because many of my previous attempts at bird photography have been less than satisfactory. I found Chris to be extremely knowledgeable about the area, the birds, and photography techniques but also enthusiastic about photography and about helping the workshop participants to improve their individual photographic skills. I needed help with using flash, and Chris was able to make suggestions which are helping me to use flash with much more confidence. He was always offering suggestions to help me with my photography. He knew what I needed, because he asked what I wanted to get from the workshop. After this workshop, I also have much greater confidence in using the histogram in the field to evaluate my exposures. This area of improvementin addition to the improvement with using flash will help my photography going forward.
I was amazed at the non-stop action of the birds flying all day and the endless possibilities of photographing birds flying, landing, and taking off. Chris recognized changes in the direction of the wind and he was able to have us move to a better vantage point for better photo possibilities. There were some vantage points on the ground where the nesting birds were no more than 10-12 feet from the board walk (and sometimes much closer). Because of this, there was ample opportunity to photograph the birds with moderate telephoto lenses.
Chris has been to this area many times and the people know him well. The people of the area like him and as members of his group, the people were very friendly to the workshop participants. Chris has arranged nice accommodations and was able to suggest good restaurants for our evening meals. The day started early but Chris was able to offer a variety of photo opportunities from daylight to sundown. I was very pleased with the images I was able to make on the second day when it was cloudy with a light rain for much of the day. I will have more confidence in the future about the possibility of photographing on rainy days.
Above all, I had fun at this workshop. I enjoyed talking to Chris about all sorts of his previous experiences, and he was interested in the experiences of the workshop participants. I would recommend Chris as a workshop leader and look forward to being a "student" in one or more of his future workshops. My workshop experience was better that I had anticipated (and I had expected it to be a great experience).
Dennis Stone Columbus, Indiana