Stand by for landing!

[Mike Poole]

170326


This shot was high on my 'to do' list on Skomer, and the forecast was for 2 good nights allowing plenty of attempts. Unfortunately the second evening clouded over, so I had to settle for this. I like the wing pose but the bright spot on the face really bugs me. Maybe a bit picky, but you know how it is when something catches your eye!

Canon 1dx
100-400mm ii
ISO 1600
1/4000th f 5.6

Mike

[William Dickson]

I know what you mean, about the bright spot Mike, but hey, the dramatic flight pose, more than makes up for it. Love the light coming through the wings and feet. Great incoming flight pose. The BG 'shows' the subject perfectly. I would have a look at a wee bit more sharpening on the head.

Well done

Will

[Adhika Lie]

If not for the lit face, the backlit works really well here to showcase the wings and tail, Mike. Very very nice background, too!

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Nice Try for the Back lit image. I like the details in the wings. I wish the head was not lit.

Thanks for sharing

[Matt Sutherland]

Outstanding capture! Great work on the exposure. The headlight doesn't bother me one bit.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the pose and the wing position, I am not usually a fan of backlit images but it works well here just wish the head was entirely in the shade as you commented yourself as well. overall a great frame TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Ditto all of the above. This took me about 15 minutes. After trying to do it with one flopped Quick Mask I realized that I needed to use two QMs so I started again from scratch. Each warped and refined. Plus more. It is likely that I could have done a bit better starting with the TIFF or even the RAW ...

[gail bisson]

This is one heck of a nice frame Mike and Artie's repost looks really good!
Love the backlight feathers and the pose and the direct head-on look,
Gail

[annmpacheco]

Love the back light and pose and Arties quick masks really does a terrific job to an already terrific frame! WEll done. Love the glowing orange feet!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Mike just want to say ...:5:cheers::5
I am impressed love this one a lot and i think you you have done a great job .
As i am not a lover of such image manipulation ....like Artie did ...i would be more than happy with your OP , even if you have blown the whites in portions of the image .
I think Skomer is a great place when you stay overnight .....if you go next year ....give me a call .

TFS Andreas

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mike, great eye contact, and love the back lighting through the edges of the wings and tail. All popping nicely against the darker BG.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot Mike - you are forgiven for the bright area! A shot with great impact well done.

[Mike Poole]

Ditto all of the above. This took me about 15 minutes. After trying to do it with one flopped Quick Mask I realized that I needed to use two QMs so I started again from scratch. Each warped and refined. Plus more. It is likely that I could have done a bit better starting with the TIFF or even the RAW ...

Thanks for that Artie, I did consider something similar, but I'm always cautious about changing too much in a shot. Yours does have the lighting on the head I was looking for though. If you want the RAW for any reason, just let me know, but thanks for the nod on your blog.

Mike

[Mike Poole]

Hey Mike just want to say ...:5:cheers::5
I am impressed love this one a lot and i think you you have done a great job .
As i am not a lover of such image manipulation ....like Artie did ...i would be more than happy with your OP , even if you have blown the whites in portions of the image .
I think Skomer is a great place when you stay overnight .....if you go next year ....give me a call .

TFS Andreas

Cheers Andreas, I wasn't thinking of going back next year, but if we could get a couple of us for a little meet up I could be tempted to try and do a deal with the Welsh Wildlife Trust !

Mike

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for that Artie, I did consider something similar, but I'm always cautious about changing too much in a shot. Yours does have the lighting on the head I was looking for though. If you want the RAW for any reason, just let me know, but thanks for the nod on your blog.

Mike

YAW. My goal is to make the image look as good as possible And since I am always upfront about what I have done and am not stupid enough to enter such repairs in contests where they would violate the rules, I am fine with what I do and rather enjoy it. The trick here was making two small Quick Masks, one of the shaded side of the bill and one of the shaded side of the face. Each was refined with both a Regular Layer Mask and various stuff under the Transform command. I used Curves on a Layer to lighten the QM of the side of the face. And I fine-tuned the area near the top of the head with the Regular Layer Mask to bring in what might look like a bit of the sidelight.

For me, in the original, there was backlight. But the lighting on the face was simply harsh sidelight.

with love, artie

ps: I will try to remember to write for the RAW when I get home from AK.