I continue my quest to capture birds in flight and geese continue to be a favorite subject. They are loud and big and fly slowly enough for me to have a fighting chance of capturing a decent image. That is not to say, however, that it’s been easy to photograph geese in flight. There are so many variables that I can’t control, particularly the direction of the geese in relation to the sun. Ideally the sun would illuminate the underside of the geese, rather than hiding parts of the body in dark shadows.
One morning earlier this weekend, conditions were relatively favorable and I was able to photograph these Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) as they flew by me. I like the different positions of the wings on each goose at the moment of the photo—it looks to me almost like a multiple exposure image, intended to show the flight of a single goose in stop=action.
Canada Geese in flight
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great shot Mike! I love the sunlight on the birds and the dark blue sky. I’m jealous you have these big birds to practice on.. I only have the small, skittish ones. One second they’re there, next they’re gone. And so fast I couldn’t see where they went. Sometimes I’m so frustrated I feel like posting a picture of an empty sky and just write THEY WERE RIGHT THERE, I SWEAR! 😉
Indeed, I am fortunate to be in a place that seems to be along the migratory path of lots of birds (and that has lots of native birds too). I’ve been shooting nature photos for only about six months, so I don’t know what will be around during the winter. One thing for sure, though, is I am going to figure out how to manipulate my camera with gloves on. I’ve found out that fingers get cold fast when the temperature is at the freezing point. As for the small birds, it seems to me like you’re having pretty good success. I too am finding out the challenges of photographing small birds. I am hoping it will be a little easier with most of the leaves off of the trees. Hope you are feeling better.
Every time I read a post like this I’m glad that a large part of nature is stationary.
The part of nature that you feature most often may be stationary, but the lighting is always an issue plus you must have to get low to shoot a lot of your photos. Capturing images is more of a challenge than many folks realize.
They almost look determined for some reason. Great shot.