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View Full Version : Portrait of a Juvenile Nazca Booby


Svante Larsson
07-12-2015, 03:31 AM
I am at last working on my images from Galapagos last autumn. There are so many of them that I am a bit overwhelmed ;-).
This one was shot at Genovesa Island.

Nikon D800, 80-400mm@400mm, ISO 400, 1/500 s, f/8
Image cropped from horizontal to vertikal otherwise no major processing.
All comments welcomed since I am eager to learn ;-).
Diane Miller
07-12-2015, 11:53 AM
Wow -- lovely! The tip of the beak is obviously out of the plane of focus but the amazing sharpness and detail on the eye makes the beak an insignificant issue for me. I would bet the bird was moving so you didn't have a chance to go to a smaller aperture and resulting slower shutter speed. (If you had a chance to work the subject, maybe you got some with the head more parallel to the plane of focus, but maybe not with the very interesting perspective this one has.)

Detail and lighting look wonderful! I would be inclined to trim a little off the top, maybe halfway to the head -- not much is happening up there. You might lighten the dark areas on the right border, especially the lowest one. Low opacity cloning might be the best way, to avoid trying to mask a vaguely-defined area. You might also think about trying to bring out a touch more detail in the lightest areas -- the body and the tuft of feathers on the head.

But those are not major issues. Overall, a wonderful image!
Svante Larsson
07-15-2015, 08:50 AM
Diane - thanks for your comments. I always appreciate them I have learnt quite a few things from them. Both from my own images but also from images from other participants.

The reason for this image really is the "debonair devil-may-care" look. I have a large number of other images with the beak being sharp but I still very much prefer this one !!! With respect to cropping I am planning to print and frame this image and I only have mats with an opening of 2x3 ;-).

Anyway, once again thanks for your comments !!!
Diane Miller
07-15-2015, 04:46 PM
It definitely has attitude! It will make a great print -- and already having a mat is an OK reason to choose a certain aspect ratio!