I spent two and a half days in mid January at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina. I did not have any luck with my photography until sunrise on my last day there. Most of the refuge roads were closed due to heavy rains and muddy conditions, so there was limited access to areas. I just didn’t have any luck with the snow geese or tundra swans.
I was worried my last day might be the same but my concerns disappeared when I saw tundra swans flying across a distant bank of low lying clouds, with the sun rising behind. As the swans flew across an interesting mix of patterns and hues, I fired away for twenty minutes with my Nikon D850 and Sigma 300-800 set at max focal length. Due to the distance, the resulting images were cropped about 50%, yet still yielded approximately 23 MP images.
I was pleased with the images, especially since they were captured after a long and unfruitful two days. But as I looked at them I couldn’t help but wonder, if shown without explanation, how many viewers would consider the images to be fake–with photoshopped skies placed behind silhouetted swans.
Real or fake, although these type of images may look the same to viewers, I am sure they feel different to the photographers who took them. A faked image cannot match the excitement and experience of capturing an image of a real event, especially if you’ve just spent two days of unsuccessful searching for opportunities.
