Black Skimmer doing its thing.....

[Dorian Anderson]

I have a modest collection of skimmer frames -- mostly from the East Coast -- but I'd not captured a skimming frame with which I was happy before this one. Yippee!

I really liked the water trail and accompanying small splash. I had to clone out a few OOF shorebird heads/beaks in the foreground, but it was hella easy.

Canon 600mm IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

189070

[dankearl]

Nice. I think it should be rotated so the slash is horizontal...

[Dorian Anderson]

Nice. I think it should be rotated so the slash is horizontal...

Hadn't even occurred to me since shoreline ran at slight diagonal, but I think it's a good suggestion. Cheers!

[David Roach]

Totally agree, flight images of this beauty are wonderful but nuttin better than getting the slicer slicing. You've caught it well... TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nifty Galifty... nice image. On my display the exposure looks good, maybe the blacks are a tad heavy. I would as has been suggested level the skimming line. Thank you for sharing, Dorian.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very impressive Dorian, timing is excellent, I like the colours, I agree re the levelling. The minor negative point for me is a faint halo along the top of the head and neck.

[Dorian Anderson]

Very impressive Dorian, timing is excellent, I like the colours, I agree re the levelling. The minor negative point for me is a faint halo along the top of the head and neck.

Thanks, Jonathan. I have seen this in a number of my images and am beginning to suspect that it has to do with my processing workflow. Arash nicely demonstrated (a while back) how much noisier the same RAW file
appears when opened in LR versus DPP or C1P (like 10x more grain). I think I'm therefore over-sharpening the image in LR (hence the halo) to get some of that detail back, so to speak, if that makes any sense. Any input
would be greatly appreciated. I am just so computer illiterate that switching to another workflow is very intimidating. I tried messing around with DPP but I can't even figure out how to open the goddamn files! LR is
so criminally easy that I've stuck with it. Maybe once I'm done with this f'ing book I'm writing I can commit to learning new software. Certainly not before. Cheers!

[Brian Sump]

Dorian, not much to pick on from me. A couple good comments above on composition.

Lighting was your ally here, super pose and sharp bif frame.

I generally don't sharpen in LR so can't probably help much on that front. Are you using the noise reduction slider much in LR?

I might have taken a few moments in PS to eliminate some of the specs on the water but can appreciate a pure frame too.

Oh - what is the book about?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yep, I'd be happy with this one as well! I initially did not see the need for rotation, but now that it is mentioned, yes, it would be a good option indeed. I don't sharpen in LR either, but for those using PS I've found "Smart Sharpen" better for this than "USM".

[Bill Dix]

A classic Skimmer frame, nicely captured. No nits. To play devil's advocate on the rotation: since the bird is angled slightly toward you, it feels perfectly natural that the wake is atilt. And the reflections suggest that this is properly leveled.

[Paul Burdett]

Agree with the +ve comments here Dorian, and yes to then levelling. I can recommend Topaz Denoise AI...it sharpens well...even on auto. Cheers.