Eyes of the Predator

Eyes of the Predator - Long-tailed Jaeger

This one from a trip I did to the high arctic this past summer.

I've always found that predators - be they avian or mammalian - seem to have a different look to their eyes (besides the obvious of often having more "centred" eyes with largely overlapping fields of view). When they stare at you they seem to be looking right into you.

I've seen Long-tailed (and Parasitic) Jaegers before on the Pacific coast, but only ever got fleeting glances of them. I never really had a chance to "work" with them until my trip this past summer to Victoria Island. Just amazing flyers - imagine how a swallow flies and then increase the size of the bird about tenfold! Cool birds.

I think I nailed the head region pretty well on this one, but every time I look at the image I wish the leading edge of the right wing was just a tad sharper. Oh well...there's always next time!

Subject: Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus) staring me down
Location: Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR - hand-held. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/2000s @ f5; ISO 100. -0.3 stop compensation compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Moderate- this is about 80% of full frame

As usual, more contextual info about this image - including processing details - available on my website, right here:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/birds/inflight/detail_9.html.

In this case there's also a link there to an even larger version of the image (2400 pixels)

Feedback welcomed - but hoping you take time to look at the larger version posted here first!

Cheers...

Brad