Chaos at dawn

Gallery: AvianPosted February 12, 20091,175 views25 comments

Another image from Bosque. This is during an early morning snow-geese blastoff. It was surprisingly cold that morning (~15F) and it turned out to be a contest of who would give up first - the photographer(s) or the geese.

Details: Canon 40D/1-400-IS @100mm. F/5.6. 1/40s. ISO320. Tripod, remote shutter.
Location: Bosque del Apache NWR, NM. Early morning.
Minimal post processing. 15% cropped.

Thanks for looking!

Comments

25 comments

Comment posted by David Cobb on February 12, 2009 at 9:20 PM

A beautiful capture of morning motion and chaos.

David M. Cobb

Registered on December 14, 2007, 312 Posts, 3243 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on February 12, 2009 at 10:11 PM

Nice colors and an incredible blur of birds! The sight and sound of this must have warmed you up tremendously! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Plant on February 12, 2009 at 10:18 PM

Great colors in this one. Liftoff is such an incredible event, always inspiring to see!

Registered on July 7, 2008, 271 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on February 12, 2009 at 10:33 PM

This is a wonderful image of a Bosque morning. I've seen hundreds and hundreds of images of this. I really like what you've done here. Nice use of 100mm. I like the transition of the sky and the detail you've kept in the darker areas. Very nice image. Big Congrats on this one.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Twaddell on February 12, 2009 at 11:38 PM

Wow! That's alot of birds. Wonderful colors!

Registered on August 16, 2007, 199 Posts, 2132 Comments

Comment posted by David Cramer on February 13, 2009 at 9:52 AM

Just the right shutter speed. And the sky colors are wonderful for this image. Only suggestion one be to leave a tad more wather at the base. You are from Wisconsin... the 15 degrees wasn't bad for you at all!

Registered on April 18, 2008, 50 Posts, 237 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Cope on February 13, 2009 at 10:28 AM

Fantastic image. The motion and chaos alone are incredible, but add the time of day and wow.

Registered on January 22, 2007, 212 Posts, 2737 Comments

Comment posted by Michal Jonczyk on February 13, 2009 at 10:38 AM

WOW fantastic image !!!

Registered on September 7, 2005, 25 Posts, 196 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Bryant on February 13, 2009 at 11:04 AM

Great looking image with cracking sky

I would lose the water line at the bottom tho.

Registered on March 31, 2006, 473 Posts, 1081 Comments

Comment posted by Alf Jacob Nilsen on February 13, 2009 at 11:08 AM

Hi Govind...
Very interesting image! I cannot make up my mind if a shorter shutter speed would improve or disimprove this image? In one way I like it just as is, but on the other hand I feel that fixing the birds here would also be smashing.... Anyway, I have to go there some day...

best
Alf J

Registered on December 13, 2007, 23 Posts, 41 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on February 13, 2009 at 5:36 PM

Thanks for all your comments.

David, below that water line is the shore from which I took this image. I could add some canvas, but wasn't sure if that'd go well with the image. I wasn't quite expecting the temp to go that low and didn't quite have the right gear. It also didn't help that I was standing at one location with minimal movement waiting for the geese to take off.

Alf, I have some other blast-off images that have the geese much sharper, but thought this image captured the commotion better.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on February 13, 2009 at 5:52 PM

Great looking image, good use of a slower shutter speed, like it lots.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on February 14, 2009 at 12:06 AM

Cool photo! I like images of flocks of birds and this is nicely done, especially the BG colors make this for me. My only small nit is the composition. I would either lose the sliver of water at the bottom or (even better) would have liked to see a bigger sliver of water.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on February 14, 2009 at 12:44 AM

What an amazing sky full of birds - how many are there? Have you counted them?

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by bill meikle on February 14, 2009 at 12:35 PM

This is one of the best photos from Bosque I have ever seen Govind and I have seen a few! Lovely effect. Inspiring.

Registered on May 21, 2006, 173 Posts, 663 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on February 14, 2009 at 3:18 PM

"Blast off" is right! Wow, that's great light on a blizzard of birds. Good show.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on February 15, 2009 at 4:05 AM

Wonderful capture! I just love the changing colours of horizon & thin waterline, you've included in the frame.
Cheers!
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Cedric Jacquet on February 15, 2009 at 9:22 AM

Very nice shot - must have been impressive to see !

Registered on February 14, 2009, 3 Posts, 16 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on February 17, 2009 at 7:01 AM

Congrats on the EP Govind, I missed seeing this when you first posted it.

The bands of colors in the background are simply wonderful against the chaos of the lift off.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on February 17, 2009 at 4:09 PM

Congratulations on the EP! It truly is an amazing image and a great pick for the weekly award.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Peters on February 20, 2009 at 12:37 PM

This is something I would love to see for myself and every time an image pops up from it I can't help but feel a hint of jealousy

I love this shot, the slow shutter speed has given a great sense of movement and I really like the colour in the sky as well

Registered on December 22, 2005, 28 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 3, 2009 at 11:12 AM

Wow - That's some high density blast-off action..
I like the blue & violet colors of the BG, it's a dynamic image full of energy in motion

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 9, 2011 at 11:31 AM

Awesome! Fantastic capture. Somehow I missd this before, so this is just a couple of years late. I very glad I saw it now!!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 15, 2011 at 8:02 AM

Great impact. A very dynamic image and the largely blurred effect at 1/40th works well Govind.
Love the color and I agree - It's a blast!

Well done

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on March 16, 2018 at 12:32 AM

That is an amazing shot. Incredible number of birds and wonderful colors.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments