Here are a few of the pictures I took this afternoon at a local park. I'm using an *ist DL. The first two were taken with the FA 50mm, and the last four were with the DFA 100mm macro. See EXIF for full details. Any suggestions on what needs improvement? I have some ideas but I'd like some input. Thanks.

[Arpe]

I think they're all pretty good, the first one looks like the's the Lord of the Flock. The 2nd one is obviously just posing. I like the lighting and "naturalness" of no.3. Nos 4 and 5, while being good photos, don't really do anything for me, they're good, just don't really grab me (I guess we've all done the flower thing ). The last one is good, but to me the brown centre bits should be sharper.

[hanamai]

I really like how you capture the lighting in the third pic.

[NaClH2O]

I think the first should be cropped a bit so that it's mostly just the geese. There is not much "happening" in the top half of the photo, a crop would concentrate attention on the central goose and birds in the water more. I like 2 and three, especially the lighting in 3 as others have said. Four doesn't do much for me, and I can't really comment on 5 and 6 because my work monitor is pretty bad.

NaCl(just my $.05 and worth all of that)H2O

[clarenceclose]

Like that Canadian watch the Coots on parade.

[MentholMoose]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really appreciate the feedback.

the first one looks like the's the Lord of the Flock.

This was my goal.

I think the first should be cropped a bit so that it's mostly just the geese. There is not much "happening" in the top half of the photo, a crop would concentrate attention on the central goose and birds in the water more.

I didn't think of this before, but I think you're right. I was just thinking that it would be better to have some green in the photo, instead of only birds and water.

The 2nd one is obviously just posing.

I thought this photo was just okay. I liked how the birds in the background didn't interfere with the big goose in the foreground. But this was mostly by chance... all the birds were moving, so I shot a few frames hoping that one would turn out okay.

I like the lighting and "naturalness" of no.3.

Thanks. I like how it turned out.

Nos 4 and 5, while being good photos, don't really do anything for me, they're good, just don't really grab me

For the fourth photo, I was just satisfied with the composition. I don't have particularly steady hands, so it was challenging to keep the goose in the frame and in focus while it was walking.

The last one is good, but to me the brown centre bits should be sharper.

Agreed. I definitely need more practice with macro photography.

[Alvin]

Hello! Second shot made me laugh a lot, but I liked the two macro shots. Very nice!

[Matthew Roberts]

That first one makes me think of some of the Nazi Party rallies, esp. at Nuremburg. This is not a bad thing, as it is visually interesting.

3 is almost surreal.