Canada Geese, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa
How do we photograph the “ordinary” bird to make the picture special? I’m talking about the species that we can see every day at any time, if we just walk out the door and go to a location where they are always present. One way is making the image in extraordinary light. Well, that doesn’t always work out. Light comes and goes and most days it is just “average” and not great at all. The other way is to wait for a great gesture or pose, or to capture some action while the bird is moving.
Canada Geese are pretty much everywhere where a body of water is located here in the Midwest. After you have the first few hundred images of geese, sitting, standing, or swimming, on your hard drive it’s time to move on. Don’t take me wrong, Canada Geese are really a good subject to practice your shooting or to test and learn about your gear. The bird provides good contrast against almost any background even in nasty weather.
Last weekend in the Green Island Wetlands it was a little too early for seeing migrating birds, but coming home without any picture is not an option for me. I’m still in a phase of learning about the new SIGMA 150-600 lens and so I used every opportunity to shoot, even the “ordinary” birds…