Start of Bombing Run...

[Arthur Morris]

I photographed this Great Skua on Fair Isle, Scotland, while on the Zegrahm's Wild Britain cruise. (We landed via Zodiacs.) Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens handheld at 106 mm with the EOS-1D MIII and central sensor AI Servo AF. ISO 400. Evaluative metering + 1/23 stops off the sky: 1/1000 sec. at f/4.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Alfred Forns]

Sweet image Artie !!! Could only wish this bird was on a full flare !!!! Love the composition with the far away cliffs and balanced by the little outcrop !!! Love the mood !!!

[Doug Brown]

Really nice Artie. Amazing how much DOF you get at f/4 with shorter focal lengths. I like the composition in this photo with regard to environmental elements. Of course the tac-sharp bird looking right at you doesn't hurt!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Wow he looks so close Artie and staring right at you .. Love these head on flight images and the Wonderful BG is an added bonus. Looks like you had a wonderful time !!!!

[Leroy Laverman]

I keep wanting to duck down to get out of the way. The OOF islands in the background give the image a nice sense of environment.

I think a 3.75 CW rotation would level the horizon out. The parts that get clipped could be quick masked back in. Maybe brightening the sky a touch would be good as well, although it looks like it was a rather gray day. Brightening changes the mood quite a bit.

[Dave Phillips]

unusual capture....one many of us hope to get some day. The eyes are piercing and full of intensity.
No big deal for web, but there is a sharpening halo almost all the way around the perimeter of the bird

[Jody Melanson]

Love the headon angle. Agree with the angle and halos...

[Ed Erkes]

An interesting image!! I like the background a lot!! I don't really notice an objectionable sharpening halo.

Again, I see a misunderstanding of depth of field in another post. Depth of field is independent of focal length-if the subject magnification is kept the same. If the subject image size and aperture are kept the same, then the depth of field is identical for a 50mm lens and a 500mm lens. What does change is the perspective--since you have to change camera subject distance to maintain mage magnification--and angle of view. With a wide angle lens, you see more of the background and, since the elements in the background are smaller, they are more recognizable as distinct elements, but they aren't in any greater degree of focus. And the depth of focus within the subject iself (the bird) will be identical.However if you shoot the same subject with a 50mm lens and a 500mm lens at the same aperture from the Same shooting distance, then you will have more depth of field with the wider angle lens, but the subject will also be much smaller. It's the image magnification and aperture that are the critical factors in depth of field (for a given film format or sensor size) NOT focal length.

[Mike Lentz]

Hey Artie, nice image. Have you thought about cloning out the land on the bottom alltogether? I think that might be interesting and would take away the angle its presenting. Just a thought. :)

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks all esp. Leroy. I struggled with leveling this. Here it is with the island totally level, more than 5 degrees rotation and then the needed QMing. I like this version much better.

[Arthur Morris]

Sweet image Artie !!! Could only wish this bird was on a full flare !!!! Love the composition with the far away cliffs and balanced by the little outcrop !!! Love the mood !!!

When he was in full flare I was DUCKING!