Under her wing: Mother love
This Canada goose was protecting her young gosling
This Canada goose was protecting her young gosling
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Sep, 2015Views
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Awards
People's Choice in Wildlife Babies Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at a local reservoir, Chew Valley Lakes, where there are lots of water birds, particularly swans, ducks and Canada geese. It is one of my favourite places to get shots of birds, especially cygnets and goslings as the birds are used to people and you can get fairly close without causing them any distress.Time
This was taken mid morning during a visit lasting a couple of hoursLighting
It was a fairly bright summer day so a little harsh with the light especially as the birds were sitting on a concrete slope at the edge of the water, and the contrast between the dark wing of the adult and the pale down of the gosling made it difficultEquipment
I used my Nikon D5100 with 55-300mm telephoto lens, hand held, no flashInspiration
I love wildlife and wanted something a little different from the usual cygnet and swan shots, and in fact I find the golden colour of the goslings prettier than the silver of the cygnets. I was taking various shots of the birds and then spotted this and immediately felt it captured the essence of motherhood with the protectiveness of the mother's wingEditing
Mostly I try to do very little post processing but with this I cropped, adjusted the contrast and also retouched some areas with blemishes (bird poo!) I also added a slight vignette to help enhance the imageIn my camera bag
I usually carry my Nikon D5100 and also my Nikon P900 Coolpix. I have filters, macro kit and flash-gun as well as tripod and monopod but due to disability, find them difficult to carry so keep my kit to a minimum. But I always carry spare batteries and SD cards! I sometimes use my Nikon J2 with 10-30mm lens for more wide angle shots and my Olympus TG-1 (that's good for rainy days as it is waterproof)Feedback
I think with wildlife, it's important to capture the essence of the animal, rather than an anatomically precise reproduction of it which has probably been done by other photographers many times. So finding some aspect of it, not necessarily the whole animal, or capturing behaviour. If, like me, you have issues carrying bulky kit, being prepared to take hand held shots can be good for capturing the moment.I use aperture priority and push up the ISO to maintain a reasonably fast shutter speed (unless I want to intentionally capture a blurred effect): I use a telephoto lens to allow me to keep at a distance and zoom in to isolate the subject so that there is no distracting background (unless the background lends important context to the animal). It really helps to understand and know the wildlife you are shooting, and of course, making sure you never disturb it or cause distress. Being patient is essential but also learning about behaviour can mean you can pick up signs of impending action (like courtship, fighting or feeding) and be ready for it.
