Because most of you who leave me a comment, know Ken and me, I'd like to share that this morning, we had a brunch for friends and neighbours to welcome our newest neighbours (oh, let's keep going and say, "to the neighbourhood"!) In trying to come up with a meal, I decided to go "Mexican" with Huevos Rancheros, Jalapano-Cheese Cornbread, refried beans with cheese, and for dessert, Ken's Baked Apples. Having Mexican food so seldom up here, I probably enjoyed it most of all! I even set the table with multi-coloured napkins and a somewhat-Mexican theme that made the room South-of-the-Border-Cheery on this overcast day! (Would that be "South-of-the-Border x 2?)
And so it was, when everyone had left and Ken and I were cleaning up, the phone rang and our friend Mike sad that he'd just passed more geese than he'd ever seen at one time out by Kroft Farm. No need to ask us twice to leave the dirty dishes and go on a photo shoot! You'd think "a lot of geese" would be easy to photograph, but they keep putting their butts in the air! I decided to go with "lots" rather than a few in the hope of catching some looking a bit more dignified! I shot a few HDR groupings, but suspected the movement would make it turn out badly. I was surprised that, even in tight close-up, it didn't look too bad. Because of the late hour and the rain that was sprinkling, the coloration was quite gray. From PS, I put it into Perfect Photo B&W, opting for a touch of colour...and the finished effect is about identical to the original... So here you have today's offering...lots of monotone lately, but that's the weather offering for the most part!
Oh...a critique question... the shoreline is not exactly horizontal. Does one straighten that when possible or leave it to show the nature of the area? What ends up being the preferable image? (Looking for opinions and why?)
I chuckle because when I shoot a landscape shot I always attempt to straighten the horizon, and even in cases when the original was not straight. When I look at it I see if anything else in the photo looks a bit lopsided, LOL, That helps me decided to adjust or not. My Daughter claims OCD and I might be guilty of the same at times.
This is lovely and I'm glad to read how you processed the photo! I'm with @digitalrn when it comes to straightening vs leaving a shoreline or other environs. I check to see if there's anything else I can use to gauge "straight" by. I think this works bc the houses on the shore allow us to have a sense of the natural contours.
@brigette Fairly mild actually! It was raining lightly, so worked hard not to get the camera wet! But YES! That WAS a lot of geese!
@digitalrn@voiceprintz Thank you both for taking the time to help me sort it out.With Horizons, oceans and waterways a'plenty up here, I, too, Rick, get a little OCD. I want it to be "geographically correct", but not to look lopsided. Thanks, as I agree, the houses moving away in the distance to the left, also make it look, to me, like it should follow that shoreline. Most appreciated.
That is A LOT of geese!!
So, I am totally OCD with stuff like that, and at first glance the crooked shoreline bothered me, but upon closer inspection I noticed that the vertical lines of the buildings are actually parallel to the vertical edges of your photo, so if you were to straighten out the shoreline your buildings would appear to be leaning to the left....just saying...
That is a lot of geese! The same number have been hanging around the park across the street from my house. When I tried to get closer for a shot, they got very nervous - and they were the most massive birds that I have ever seen! So I (wisely) backed off.
To you question: with Picasa you can easily straiten it . (And choose what you like the most)I nearly always do on my landscape pic.`s . Great view and shot of the river , the bank and houses and the trees.
Thanks for the frank story telling of all of you adventures
Wonderful shot Louise, I've never seen as many geese or swans (which is what we get) in one place. As for the horizon, I think it's a personal choice. I tend to level to what I think looks 'right' to my eye.
This IS just a whole lot of geese! And how could you not catch a tail or two (or a dozen) up in the air when there's that many out there on the water. As for the level issue, I'd say if the houses' roof lines are level then you're good t'go.
@digitalrn @voiceprintz Thank you both for taking the time to help me sort it out.With Horizons, oceans and waterways a'plenty up here, I, too, Rick, get a little OCD. I want it to be "geographically correct", but not to look lopsided. Thanks, as I agree, the houses moving away in the distance to the left, also make it look, to me, like it should follow that shoreline. Most appreciated.
So, I am totally OCD with stuff like that, and at first glance the crooked shoreline bothered me, but upon closer inspection I noticed that the vertical lines of the buildings are actually parallel to the vertical edges of your photo, so if you were to straighten out the shoreline your buildings would appear to be leaning to the left....just saying...
Thanks for the frank story telling of all of you adventures