Every once in a while I get an urge to go after some wildlife shots, it’s usually based on a specific time of year (like now) and for a specific subject like geese. OK I’m sure you had already figured that out. Every year during the annual migration of our worlds great waterfowl hundreds of thousands of geese Canadian and Snow make their way through the plains great fly ways. Some years produce more than others but they are always doing at least a fly over for a couple of weeks or so in what seems like mid winter.  A few weeks ago I was exploring some new areas around and in the Flint Hills the same day I discovered this old barn that I was thrilled to be able to photograph, some people are just nuts over old barns I even have a 24×36 inch print of this old barn hanging in Stormont Vail Regional Medical Center thanks to Denise one of the managers in charge of interior design and decor loving old barns as well.

As the day was quickly coming to a close, the sun was just touching the horizon as I slowly made my way down a country road in Wabaunsee County. A plowed field ran along the north side with it’s ever present dark Kansas soil and stubble’s of corn stocks lining the rows of earthy grounds. Unknown at this time to me just behind a tree line on the north side of the field lay the Kansas River. So the table was set, food (corn) & water, what more could a goose want.

I spotted the flock from about a quarter mile away and quickly stopped and grabbed my camera which luckily already had a 70-200mm lens on it which is the longest lens I own and began to ease my way up to the flock. I spent the next 10 minutes or so capturing as many different shots as I could considering the sun had set, the light was fading and I was hand holding the camera for all shots.

I looked at the shots once back home on my computer and felt like most were just so-so at best. A few days ago I revisited these shots and picked out these 3 that I felt worthy of spending more time processing up. I approached these in a similar way as I did with some other shots of Canadian Geese I captured last year in that I made a sort of series with them working them all up the same way with the same look.

These 3 shots were all worked up in Lightroom only, making slight adjustments then going black and white and adding a preset I downloaded courtesy of David duChemin’s ebook Safari called Serengeti Chocolate for the tone . Since this a “for sell” ebook I won’t be able to provide a link to the available preset, but I do recommend the book as I do most all of Davids books.

Putting together a series of photographs be it 3 or more is a fun way to approach certain shots that may have similar qualities or subjects, even thought it directs your attention in a specific way it’s always fun to see how your vision will turn out in the final image. Subsequently I have returned to this area in search of more Snow Geese with a preconceived idea of some additional shots, but like our daily lives nothing is guaranteed so my preconception has not materialized as of yet. Not sure how long the geese will hang around these parts but it has been fun going on the proverbial goose chase all the same.

© Brad Mangas

 

© Brad Mangas

 

© Brad Mangas