Shag

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX
f/4 500mm with 1.4
f/7.1
1/1000
ISO 1000

I had my first visit, this year, to the Isle of May yesterday. It was a very windy day, and most birds, including thousands of Puffins, were at sea surrounding the island. I spent an hour photographing two shags going through courtship, but the light and windy conditions were against me. They were perched on a cliff, across from the cliff I was on.

Will

[keith mitchell]

Great detail ,love the raised crest and that green eye,nice work Will.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Will looks like he put on a show for you.

Is this a big crop or FF, just wondering that if it's cropped, smaller in frame with the whole neck in might be an alternative? I also feel it lacks the depth, the plumage and bill look harsh in their appearance providing very little detail, hard to explain, if you want to call feel free, but it might be just down to the light hitting the subject???? I might try f/11 and up the ISO to maintain more SS, especially if it's windy.

Hope you get some good stuff on Mull.

Cheers
Steve

[annmpacheco]

Hi Will,
Conditions were against you but nevertheless, your image leaves me wanting more. What a beautiful head shot, techs will improve on your next visitIm sure, but what colors and love the crest, and the green eye! Go get em Will

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very cool eye on this species. I like the windswept crest. With a tighter portrait I would have stopped down for more dof - one of the few times I do stop down more than usual for bird photography. I think the brighter midtones could go darker IMO. Good stuff overall though!

[Jay Ing]

"across from the cliff I was on"... that 1dx +500 doing you right! Nice shoot! Happy shooting!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Totally agree regarding DOF being rather shallow here Will. You shoot enough I reckon that you could easily drop your SS down to at least 1/250th or less while HH and still get pin sharp images while at the same time close down the aperture for some more DOF.

Well done regardless, the crest and eye make this for me.

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated

Will