Preening Gannet

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX Mk2
f/4 400mm DO Mk2 with 1.4iii
f/5.6
1/1600
ISO 1250

I captured this one yesterday from a boat at the Bass Rock. Conditions were dull and windy, with a choppy sea. Not easy when the boat is moving about, but I managed a few hundred shots at the Gannets.

Will

[Bill Dix]

Quite lovely. Good control of the exposure on the whites. Nicely done under difficult conditions. There is probably more detail to be had in the head if you were inclined to hit it with another touch of selective sharpening or detail extractor.

[John Mack]

Sounds like very tough shooting conditions. The preening pose is nice as well. Like the crop as presented.

[dankearl]

I Like the pose but it is noisy..... too big a crop?

[gail bisson]

I like the great details on the bird but I find the cropping too tight.
The BG has that ***$%^* pixellation. So hard to fix . Did you try blurring the BG?
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Nice bird and sharp but as Gail noted, the BKGR is a big mess, especially the upper left. Ideal for preening poses is that the bird's head and bill are perfectly parallel to the back of the camera ...

with love, artie

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the comments guys...It wasn't a big crop, but I had to crop tight because of BG distractions. I underexposed too much I reckon causing the BG to be how it is.

Will