Puffin Headshot

[Herb Houghton]

From a blind on Machias Seal Island, Maine. 1D mark IV, 300 f2.8, iso 400, F4, 1/1250, the light was harsh at noon on a sunny day.








www.herbhoughton.com

[ChasMcRae]

I like the detail around eye and beak. Good exposure of whites and no significant glare off the beak.
I might have to emphasize the eye a little more.

[Randy Stout]

Herb:

The detail and texture here is very nice, and I find the pose charming, shows the bill so well. Agree about the eye, just a bit of lighting. DOF very effective.
Might consider a small crop from the right side. Might try to smooth out the light band along the birds right side.

Cheers

Randy

[Jory Griesman]

Very nice puffin portrait. Agree with above comments. I wonder whether the bird is oversharpened (particularly the head). I would desaturate the bill at bit.

[Blake Shadle]

Nice work on the exposure. If this were mine I'd try to place the subject's head further to right side of the frame. Fill Flash would have worked well to soften the light as well as add some catch light. Overall a well made image.

[Robert O'Toole]

Very good job considering the conditions!

Would be nice to see the puffin looking into the frame. There are some small clipped white areas but nothing major and the reds in the bill are clipping a little.

Agree with Blake on the fill flash.

Robert

[Mike Tracy]

Well done for the most part. Place your Puffin to the right and you have done fine,

[Troy Lim]

Herb, nice exposure.
Since the bird is looking to the left, would like to see more room on the left.

[Herb Houghton]

Thanks for all of the comments. I recropped, and reduced saturation / sharpening in this reposted image. I also used curves to brighten the eye. I clipped the right side of the bird as not to have too much dead space on the left side when cropping.

[Randy Stout]

Herb:

I feel the repost has taken an already appealing image to the next level. Nicely done.

Cheers

Randy

[Deborah Harrison]

Beautiful image and definitely improved with the repost. However I think you've overdone the eyes in the repost, even in bright sunlight these birds' eyes are very dark which presents a challenge.

This image almost looks like a painting!

[Bonnie Block]

The repost is definitely a stronger composition. I am unsure about the eye. Artistic descretion here--it certainly rivets you to the image.
Very nice!!

[Hendri Venter]

I like the DOF and sharp detail on the head. Comp on repost looks great.