Great Skua, Coming In Low

[Bill Dix]

It was cold, dark and windy on the Icelandic tundra, and these aggressive birds were not at all happy with our being on their patch of it. I felt the need to duck on more than one occasion.

D7200, 500f4, ISO 3200, 1/200s @ f/6.3 manual. 75% of full-width.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Considering the slow shutter speed you did well with this image. I like the habitat, just wondering if the saturation could be punched up a tad. Perhaps the surroundings naturally subdued?

[Bill Dix]

Oops. The SS was a typo and should have been 1/2000s. Actually, I had saturated the bg a little, but was a bit timid about it. The dull light made the whole scene somewhat subdued. Here's a version with a little more saturation and contrast to the bg.

[Glennie Passier]

Wow. I thought the OP was good, but the RP is even better. My only suggestion would be to tone down the very BG yellow flowers just a tad. Do you think there could be a magenta-ish cast? I seem to be seeing colours that no one else does, so take that with a grain of salt.

I have seen docos of these birds; you were mighty brave to stand your ground. Hand held?

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Glennie. Not HH (my shoulders can't take it); I was hiding behind my Gitzo and Mongoose. The original file did show some magenta cast, which I corrected. But maybe I didn't go quite far enough.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Good one, Bill. Under the circumstances you did well capturing this one low to the ground, and checking you out. Habitat clearer in repost.

Geoffrey

[Jonathan Ashton]

Great shot Bill I am impressed, I like to see the bird in flight close to the ground. I prefer the repost.