Gannet

[Mike Poole]

141121

Had a day out at Bempthon Cliffs in the North East of England which is home to a large number of gannets. The weather was very untypically British - bright harsh sun - which played havoc with the whites in the flight shots, so I went for one of the nest building birds instead

Canon 1d3
400mm f5.6
ISO 200
1/2000th, f5.6

[Karl Egressy]

Very nice portrait shot, Mike. the whites handled well and the dark around the eye too. I also like to see the nice blue around the eye and the nice clean eye.

[Diane Miller]

Whites look great to me! I love the detail in the eye and beak, and how it is floating above the OOF FG.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the contrast between the spotless clean plumage and the dirty bill. The eye is crystal clear, very appealing. I also like the idea you went for here with the foreground.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Mike, classic Bempton, not always the easiest of places to shot and come away with something different, but I like this. Having the FG is a nice contrast to the backdrop of the sea, and I like the fact you have some nesting material in the beak. Not sure about going for Spot metering as it does limit you IMHO, likewise +1EV as often I have found I needed to the opposite way, certainly just dropping the Exp on this brings out a lot more tone & depth to the subject.

TFS
Steve

[adrian dancy]

Bempton is not the easiest place for Gannets but you have pulled a nice one out of the bag here.

[vishaljadhav]

the foreground sets it up very nicely, lovely exposure and great details, nicely done

[Binu John]

Great shot! Lovely exposure, POV and background! TFS

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike, classic Bempton, not always the easiest of places to shot and come away with something different, but I like this. Having the FG is a nice contrast to the backdrop of the sea, and I like the fact you have some nesting material in the beak. Not sure about going for Spot metering as it does limit you IMHO, likewise +1EV as often I have found I needed to the opposite way, certainly just dropping the Exp on this brings out a lot more tone & depth to the subject.

TFS
Steve

Cheers Steve. I spent most of the day shooting a mix of manual and AV and found that if I spot metered off the head and dialled in +1 EV then the exposure was pretty much spot on and kept the whites clean.

Thanks for the crit

Mike