Australasian Gannets

[Tony Whitehead]

Work and other commitments have largely kept me away from birds for the past couple of months but managed a brief trip to the Gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers in Hawkes bay. Unfortunately the wind direction was the exact opposite of what was needed so the birds were approaching out of the sun. Coming in over the mass of white birds on the guano covered earth there was a fair degree of fill light bounced back from below. Despite the less than ideal light I liked this composition with the 2 birds in frame.
Nikon D300
Nikon 200-400 @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/1600s f8
Comments and advice appreciated as always.

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely COMP and yes to the harsh light. The biggest probelm for me is that the eye of the lead bird does not appear to be sharp. Perhaps ligtening the pupil would help. As always, working off angle to the light (as here, out of necessity), leads to many problems.

One solution that works at times is to turn around and shoot the white birds backlit with Manual flash as main light at 1:1 (full power), High Speed Synch, and a Better Beamer.

And thanks for your continued excellent work here as a Moderator despite your busy schedule.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the composition and eye contact, the OOF bird works for me, too. I only wish the eye were sunlit.

[Nate Chappell]

I really like your comp and this image despite the difficult light Tony.

[Laura Hughes]

I like the composition and colors, whites a bit hot but action is really great.

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely COMP and yes to the harsh light. The biggest probelm for me is that the eye of the lead bird does not appear to be sharp. Perhaps ligtening the pupil would help. As always, working off angle to the light (as here, out of necessity), leads to many problems.

One solution that works at times is to turn around and shoot the white birds backlit with Manual flash as main light at 1:1 (full power), High Speed Synch, and a Better Beamer.



Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone. I tried the flash against the sun option but unfortunately in the conditions on the day it was a bit like breaking wind (or words to that effect) in the face of a hurricane:D