Visiting Goose

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I'm still working on improving my animal photography. Thankfully, several zoo visits in the past year have provided more opportunities to practice that skill, but it still needs work. More often than not, my portraits of animals tend to be blurry or capture them in an uninteresting positions.

Last year during a visit to Burke Lake in Virginia, I apparently caught a visiting Canada Goose just strolling along the banks of the lake who paid little attention to either human visitors or even my camera. With the blue lake water as a backdrop, the goose's gray, white and black plumage seems to jump out of the frame, drawing the eye to its regal stature. Even though I prefer not placing my photo subject in the center of the composition, the goose belongs there.

Next time I encounter these winter vacationers in the area, I hope I can capture the geese in flight. They are such beautiful, elegant birds, when flying. Plus, it would be a great challenge to capture the geese in motion without resulting in a muddled final image.