David - Wow, this is one visually interesting image. The extraordinary number of birds filling both the water and sky is almost overwhelming - you've really drawn the viewer into the scene.

At the same time the sheer number of birds creates a degree of visual chaos, and I found myself looking for an anchor or dominant focal point.

I also believe if you notice something when reviewing an image that doesn't lead to or support the subject or interrupts the visual flow, the photographer should consider removing it.

And two aspects of the image caught my eye enough that they did interrupt my visual flow thru the image - the layer of non-flight birds along the base of the image, and the upper left of the frame where there appear to be more trees than birds.

In my VF I experimented, and I mean experimented with cropping up and down while keeping the pano to focus exclusively on the subjects. I honestly don't know if it's an improvement, but I wanted to play with it a bit and would love your thoughts on what I did.

Regards, what a sight to behold and better you to be able to capture - nice job
  Posted: 07/01/2026 23:58:24

Thanks for your thoughtful comments butch. I like the idea of cropping up to eliminate the stationary birds. I participated in a webinar earlier in the week and asked how best to capture a scene like this. One suggestion was to look for a shape of the flock. Clearly that was not happening here. The other thought was to pan with a slow shutter speed. I'll give both a try in the future. Thanks again for thinking along with me.   Posted: 07/02/2026 11:04:03

This is one of those rare moments that we camera carriers just dream about and few ever actually see. It is certainly a shot that you will always look back and and feel pleased that you captured it. I fully agree with Butch that the shot with the amount of birds in flight shows a great deal of chaos. Personally, I'd keep the birds at the bottom as they show the fully story. I think I would crop out the blue sky in the upper left. I can't really tell just how sharp the birds are. I've seen the slow shutter speed images and I'm not a fan --- just too much blur. In the end only you can decide the quality of the image. It is you shot and your moment.

I'd like to see it displayed on by 60inch TV. :-)   Posted: 07/07/2026 22:53:03

David, I've seen these huge flocks of Snow Geese at refuges in New Mexico. They are quite a spectacle, with the noise and confusion of so many moving things when they blast off like this.
You've caught a nicely uniform concentration of flying birds, filling the frame with the chaos. The density is so great that it's somewhat challenging to figure out what they are. The looser concentration of birds on the water tells that part of the story, and for that reason I'd leave them in- I'd even include more of the closer, bigger birds than in your crop.
In looking at my images, where I start to see any kind of "shape" is with the birds higher in the sky and somewhat more spread out. I don't know if it happens when they are close to the ground like this. Also "shape" is more apparent with much wider angles, i.e. 24-30mm- assuming, of course, they are close enough and the habitat open enough to use that technique.
  Posted: 07/10/2026 20:57:56