Running Start: Midway #2

[Arthur Morris]

This Laysan Alabatross was photographed with the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering + 1 1/3 stops off of the sand in the predawn. (Should have been +2 but I needed some shutter speed. :))

As the beach was a mess with human footprints and the vegetation too sharply defined I ran about a 25 pixel Gaussian blur on a layer and then erased the bird. Much better :)

Don't be shy: all comments welcome.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the running pose and composition in this one and might lighten the eye a tad. What was the shutter speed?

[Steve Maxson]

Looks like you are having fun, Artie. I like the cool action pose, the soft light, and the blurred background you have achieved. I am noticing some distracting, less blurred, bits of background just underneath the bird running from the beak to the rear foot. Should be an easy fix I would think. :)

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, pose is very nice and unique. I think this size is not doing justice to the photo. Am pretty sure your orig is very sharp...just hard to make out at this size.

Glad you explained the blurring. When I looked at the photo first, I did wonder how you got such shallow DOF with f/5.6 with that much 'camera-to-subject' distance and that less 'subject-to-BG' distance.

[Bryan Hix]

I like the action Artie. After reading that you used blur, I am seeing something funky around the feet and in front of the neck/breast area. I tried to zoom in and it looks like that part didn't get blurred? I can't really tell what it is?

[Ilija Dukovski]

I didn't know they run at take off.
No wonder, with that wingspan.
Very nice action captured. Really amazing birds.
Agree with above about the BG near the feet.
Can you tell us what eraser diameter and hardness
do you use when you erase the blurred layer?

[Markus Jais]

Fantastic pose. Those birds are amazing. I like the green stuff in the out of focus background as it shows the habitat without distracting too much from the bird.
Would fill flash be possible here to bring out a little catch light in the eyes?

Markus