Posted by Phil Shaw on November 12, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Great Skua (Stercorarius skua)
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk2, 600/f4 + EF 1.4x, WH2 + Gitzo 1540.
Manual exposure mode f8, 1/250, iso 500.
RAW image processed in Capture One; sharpened in Photoshop CS4, full frame.
I’ve had a couple of cancellations for a 16-day, shared-expenses, trip to Tanzania in February 2010. Before I let the bookings go, I thought I would see if anyone here might be interested. If so please contact me by email and I will send the details by return. I hope this does not infringe any of the forum rules: if so I appologise and please delete.
The elusive Tanzanian bonxie! Fantastic! Really lovely shot, superb detail on the plumage - must have been soft lighting. The layers of muted feather colours its revealing are quite simply beautiful. These are scary birds when they hurtle towards you, but this is a really revealing image of the sheer beauty they possess as well.
I really like this one Phil. A lovely symetrical pose and great detail recorded. The composition and size in frame are just right for this type of image as any extra space would, I feel, be superfluous.
Robert
Posted by Nigel Blake on November 13, 2009 at 3:50 AM
I like this, the size in frame works for me, my only minor nit is that the P/P looks a little too HDRish.
Posted by David Sewell on November 13, 2009 at 4:06 AM
I have been trying for this shot for years, so nothing but jealousy from me.
David
Posted by Craig Jones on November 13, 2009 at 4:38 AM
Lovely display captured,composition suit this image so well Phil and a lovely photo
Posted by Dave Bartlett on November 13, 2009 at 5:19 AM
Works for me. A bit of aggression and big in the frame suits it well.!!
Posted by Jeroen Stel on November 13, 2009 at 5:40 AM
Very expressive and well detailed shot. Like this one a lot!
Was wondering if you have used flash or a better beamer?
Greetings,
Jeroen Stel
Posted by Ian Macdermott on November 13, 2009 at 6:32 AM
Great shot
nice to see the aggression
Posted by Graham Goddard on November 13, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Very expressive shot
On my work screen, I'm seeing artifacts around the head and wings - anyone else see them ?
Posted by Dawn Monrose on November 13, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Excellent behaviour shot! Lovely muted colours too, great comp.
Posted by Dave Courtenay on November 13, 2009 at 11:11 AM
I see a few artifacts-probably due to compression-Great image-love the pose
Dave
Posted by Phil Shaw on November 13, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Graham, you are right - looking closely at the posted image I see some artifact too. Must be a result of multiple jpeg saves. When I tried to post it originally, the file was too big and and I had to resize it, but didn't re-do the processing.
Jeroen - no flash, although as I recall, it was getting on for about 9pm. If you look at the image closely you may see that it was also raining - recorded as diagonal "slash" marks. This accounts at least in part for the muted colours and and limited tonal range. I don't usually use the saturation slider in processing my images; I prefer to use the colour channels and contrast functions instead. I think I can get more accurate colours that way.
David, if its any consollation, I have been after this shot for a long time too. In this instance I thought I was also going to miss out. I was with a group, got everybody lined up, approached the bird, it displayed and everybody got the shot; backed off, waited, approached the bird again and it displayed; more shots for everyone. I did it a third time to make sure that everyone got a range of shots. Now it was my turn, but the guide who was with us approach too closely and she flushed, circled and came back, but it was obvious that if we tried again she wasn't going to tolerate it. I waited a while and after about 10minutes the male came in, landed beside her and they both displayed. Unfortunately I was set up for the single bird shot.
Discussion
17 repliesCanon EOS 1Ds Mk2, 600/f4 + EF 1.4x, WH2 + Gitzo 1540.
Manual exposure mode f8, 1/250, iso 500.
RAW image processed in Capture One; sharpened in Photoshop CS4, full frame.
I’ve had a couple of cancellations for a 16-day, shared-expenses, trip to Tanzania in February 2010. Before I let the bookings go, I thought I would see if anyone here might be interested. If so please contact me by email and I will send the details by return. I hope this does not infringe any of the forum rules: if so I appologise and please delete.
Robert
David
Was wondering if you have used flash or a better beamer?
Greetings,
Jeroen Stel
nice to see the aggression
On my work screen, I'm seeing artifacts around the head and wings - anyone else see them ?
Dave
Jeroen - no flash, although as I recall, it was getting on for about 9pm. If you look at the image closely you may see that it was also raining - recorded as diagonal "slash" marks. This accounts at least in part for the muted colours and and limited tonal range. I don't usually use the saturation slider in processing my images; I prefer to use the colour channels and contrast functions instead. I think I can get more accurate colours that way.
David, if its any consollation, I have been after this shot for a long time too. In this instance I thought I was also going to miss out. I was with a group, got everybody lined up, approached the bird, it displayed and everybody got the shot; backed off, waited, approached the bird again and it displayed; more shots for everyone. I did it a third time to make sure that everyone got a range of shots. Now it was my turn, but the guide who was with us approach too closely and she flushed, circled and came back, but it was obvious that if we tried again she wasn't going to tolerate it. I waited a while and after about 10minutes the male came in, landed beside her and they both displayed. Unfortunately I was set up for the single bird shot.
Phil.
JohnR
Paul
Edwin Kats