Northern Gannet

Gallery: AvianPosted June 20, 201183 views10 comments

Photo taken August 14, 2010 at Cape St. Mary's Ecological Seabird Reserve (Newfoundland).
D300, 300mm f/4 + 1.4x tc, 1/1000 s, f/6.3, ISO 200, hand held.
Cropped to 50% of full frame. I did a tight crop because of the wingspan - if I left more space surrounding the wings, it was difficult to see detail in the plumage even in a 1200 pixel version.
Selective sharpening and contrast adjustment to bird using CS5. Other minor adjustments in LR3.
Comments and suggestions, especially about the crop, most welcome.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on June 20, 2011 at 5:50 PM

very good quality shot,love how you manage the whites, I would probably keep the same size crop, I would move bird little bit to the right upper corner even I know the wings would be a bite to tide but anyway congratulations on a-mazing capture!!!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on June 20, 2011 at 7:03 PM

A great shot David. Love the bird's position. Sharpness, detail, and exposure look good. The comp works for me. Well done.

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

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on June 20, 2011 at 7:21 PM

Wonderful work, great wing span. Really nice detail in the white feathers, they seem to glow.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on June 20, 2011 at 7:40 PM

Dave, I love the look at the dorsal side. Great detail and exposure and I enjoy the different background. Not too tight for me. Nicely done.

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on June 20, 2011 at 8:31 PM

It looks like you're right up there with this bird, David. I think that the comp works well. Possibly part of the reason is that the wing tips are dark in color. If they were white I suspect that the bird would look crowded. Unusual and very attractive shot.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on June 20, 2011 at 8:50 PM

Really nice topside view of this bird showing detail and good exposure. The BG is at the right level of OOF and In focus to tell it's the breeding habitat

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

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 21, 2011 at 2:55 AM

Easy to understand why you'd want to do whatever you could to keep those marvelously detailed wings as the main attraction David. Ordinarily I'd prefer more space around a subject like this, but this way works pleasing enough, well done IMO :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on June 21, 2011 at 9:39 AM

Awesome awesome! Love your angle showing off those wings. The wing position is perfect and I see plenty of detail and nice light.

And did I mention that eye?

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on June 21, 2011 at 11:33 AM

Superb shot Dave. I like the wing extension and sharp detail, and that you captured good eye contact. The comp works well IMO.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on June 21, 2011 at 12:48 PM

I like the curved wing span, eye contact and how the bird stands out from the background. It looks like the background is a cliff with water below, so once I noticed that my thought was 'How did you get this shot?'. It might be interesting to compare this crop with one that includes more of the water on the left and bottom to add some blue to the image but a fine shot as is, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments