last light

Gallery: AvianPosted August 31, 2010125 views16 comments

Sorry to have dissapeared for a couple of months. My wife is a school teacher and we can only travel in the summer so we've been out and about with the kids in tow. Well, everyone has started back to school and I've been able to get out and get some photo ops lately. This is a skimmer that was taken just before sunset at Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach, Ca. I really like the golden light on the wings. Other than great lighting it's just another skimmer shot but I thought I'd share it. I'll be commenting now as well. Good to be back. As always, comments and suggestions very welcome. Please see larger post for much better details.
Nikon D300s
200-400mm @400
F-7.1
ISO 800
SS 640
Manual Mode
Auto white balance
Spot Metering
Hand Held
25% crop, minor sharpening, background NR, slight rotation, -2 saturation, minimal shadows and highlights.

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Buck Ward on August 31, 2010 at 10:06 PM

The great light makes it not just another skimmer shot.

Registered on December 8, 2003, 96 Posts, 1917 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 31, 2010 at 10:27 PM

About as nice as it gets. @ ISO 800 on the D300s you might be able to pull a LITTLE detail out of those blacks... thats the only nit though. The sharpness is impressive for 1/640s

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 31, 2010 at 10:33 PM

Beautiful light indeed, David. Excellent detail and a nice little catchlight that shows well in the larger version.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on August 31, 2010 at 10:52 PM

The larger image shows how nice this shot really is. Well done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Webster on August 31, 2010 at 10:58 PM

Greetings, David...Lovely late afternoon lighting. Black and white birds are the hardest to expose properly. If you have to compromise let the darks go dark, as you have here, and expose to preserve details in the high values. This is a nice image of a skimmer.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 73 Posts, 644 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on August 31, 2010 at 11:24 PM

Very nice image! The light is awesome.

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Andrew Bicos on September 1, 2010 at 2:05 AM

Beautiful light that you captured wonderfully. The larger photo really shows very nice details. Bolsa Chica is one of my favorite spots, especially near sunset.

Registered on August 27, 2010, 3 Posts, 15 Comments

Comment posted by Ákos Lumnitzer on September 1, 2010 at 4:58 AM

Fabulous light and pose. Sharp as nails; overall a stunning Skimmer shot.

Registered on April 24, 2004, 25 Posts, 510 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on September 1, 2010 at 8:44 AM

Great detail around the head/eye in the larger image David

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Elwood on September 1, 2010 at 11:09 AM

David wonderful light on this one!! You might try Nik software's filter set, a plug in for NX2 or Photoshop. There is one fliter called reflector effects which is great for being out the wing details on darker colors.

Registered on January 15, 2010, 101 Posts, 396 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on September 1, 2010 at 12:06 PM

Glad you are back. As I have mentioned before you assistance was a big help to me improving my skills. I love shooting the skimmers at Bolsa Chica. I hope to see you again and also I would appreciate your comments on my posting I just made. Keep up with your postings, I read your details very closely.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on September 1, 2010 at 3:09 PM

David,

A fine skimmer image, I like the comp you used and the skimming action shown.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Hali Sowle on September 1, 2010 at 3:52 PM

The light is fantastic and really makes this image. Great composition and action and you did a great job with the exposure, so hard to get these birds exposed right with those black upper wings and head.

Registered on January 9, 2008, 36 Posts, 582 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on September 1, 2010 at 4:53 PM

Great view of skimming behaviour, nice light too.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on September 1, 2010 at 5:33 PM

Sweet!

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 1, 2010 at 8:08 PM

This is very well done David. Another example of just how much difference the larger image makes. I can barely make out the eye in the smaller version but in the larger one it really stands out.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments