Geese, Trees, and Dust

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Canada Geese, (Branta canadensis). Bosque del Apache NWR, Soccoro co., New Mexico. Nikon F3, 400 mm f3.5.

-- Billy Gorum (Herphoto@aol.com), December 02, 1999

Answers

Excellent shot. What film was this shot on? Was it filtered at all?

-- Mark Castiglia (markus777@earthlink.net), December 02, 1999.

I think that subject is LIGHT. You have captured it by the Dust, in the foreground an in the background you have put Geese and Trees: they are very good element to give a spatial dimension to the image but, in my opinion, they aren't the main subject. The image is very impressive: we can see the red diffused light and its origin in the yellow spot, both in the same frame and non in a wide angle view, as usually happen. Can you explain how you have obtained such a beautiful light effect on the film? Thank you. The light be with you !)

-- Carlo Folli (c.folli@rsadvnet.it), December 02, 1999.

Nice photo, good use of existing light. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), December 02, 1999.

Beautiful. I find the misty trees in the background very interesting. My eye starts at the Yellow blaze then follows the Geese down the hill then across to the those trees, very nice. The grass forms a triangle down the slope, which is a nice element also. I would think this shot in an oval mount would be nice, the light seems to fall off in an oval pattern. Tim

-- Tim Kingston (offramp@nbnet.nb.ca), December 03, 1999.

I agree that the light is the subject of this photo, not the geese or trees. Very impressive.

-- rob dalrymple (robd13@erols.com), December 03, 1999.


Thanks for the comments. The film is EB, (I forget what it used to be called, either Elitechrome or Ektachrome 100, I think). There was no filter used except the dust in the air. Actually I am not really all that happy with this shot. It is a compromise, and a good example of how hard it can be to combine three fairly simple elements in one photograph. The situation was that these geese were feeding right beside the tour loop. I liked the trees and the light so I stopped and set the camera up on a tripod to shoot. Just about then a car drove by and all the geese raised there heads and the dust produced a really beautiful lighting effect. The only problem was that the background trees were completely obscured by the dust. As the dust began to settle the trees became more visable, though the effect on the geese remained for a while longer. The problem was by the time the dust settled enough to see the trees some of the geese would have put there heads back down and began feeding again. This is the best compromise I got out of about 1/2 a roll of film I shot before the sun finally dipped below the horizon. What I needed that day was for a little Yugo to drive by, getting all the geese to raise their heads and kicking up just enough dust to produce the disired effect without obscuring the trees. Unfortunately everyone who past by that evening seemed to be driving SUV's or Vans.

-- Billy Gorum (Herphoto@aol.com), December 03, 1999.

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