Atlantic Puffin

[gail bisson]

This was my best flight shot of a puffin when I was in Iceland this year. I wanted to show the splayed feet while in flight, which is tricky because most of the time I could only show the feet well once the puffin was way past me.
Canon 1 DX
100-400 mm II
F 5.6 ISO 1600 SS 1/2000
This is 80% FF (with a crop from LHS)
Processed in LR and CS5. Nothing added or cloned.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail
PS Anybody have any tricks to make the toenails on the far foot pop out? I thought about cloning the toe from one foot to the other foot but was trying to be "pure"!

[William Dickson]

Lovely view of the Puffin Gail. Pretty good detail as well. Nice HA and the prey does add. The trailing feet do give a good colour boost to the image. The two toned BG shows the bird well.

Will

[Marina Scarr]

There's nothing missing here. Love the head turn, seeing both feet and wings fully extended and the sushi. What more could you ask for. Really a super capture and I can't imagine this was an easy shot b/c these birds are really fast.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gail nice shot as is, if you falsified the claw on the left foot it would look fake because the foot is not as sharp/in focus as the right foot. I would be 100% happy as is.... did you remove blue from the bird and fish?

[gail bisson]

Hi John,
No, I did not remove any blue from the image. I added +5 to saturation sliders in LR and in CS5 I added a point of black to the blacks and neutrals. What are you seeing that made you ask the question?
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Hi Gail. So tough to get a good flight shot of these bullets. The mouthful is a big bonus, and the splayed feet put it over the top. Nicely done.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gail I saw beautiful clean colours and the fish were silver so I just wondered if you had taken blue out.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Looks about a perfect can be to me. Outstanding feet and wing position, mouthful of fish an added bonus. Techs spot on as always. Thank you for sharing, Gail.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, great flying pose showing the top side, and yes to a great HA too. Overall well exposed, and the Puffin pops so well against the lighter BG. His beak full of sandeels adds that extra interest. Well captured.

[Isaac Grant]

So nice Gail. Agree with all that has been said. Pose, background and details are great. Why not select the nails and just increase the blacks a bit in selective color to darken them just a little?

[Robert Kimbrell]

What a pleasing image Gail. Great that you were able to capture the feet as you did. Good exposure and pose. The mouth full of fish really takes it up a notch.

[Mike Poole]

Beautiful shot of the little speedster, perfect angle for a dorsal view with the little turn towards the camera, and the unfortunate eels trailing in the wind. I'd definitely be keeping the far foot exactly as it is now,

Mike

[Glenn Conlan]

Great top side shot well done, love the mouthful of fish

[David Salem]

This is the shot I've always dreamed of when I go to Iceland. Perfect side profile, Beautiful details, great head angle and a mouthful of fish. What more could you ask for? I don't think there's any reason for you to go back to Iceland again, you mopped up :) Fantastic!!