Kittiwake

[Reynir Skarsgard]

Well, what do you think of this one? No processing was done on this photo, just resized it for the web.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon 400mm f/5.6L USM
1/2000
f/11.0
ISO 400

http://reynirsk.smugmug.com/Animals/Fuglar/i-zNfXDNb/0/XL/_mg_6346-XL.jpg

[Kerry Perkins]

Reynir, I think it's quite nice! Excellent job of composing in the camera and controlling the whites. Nice head angle and color balance. Image seems a bit soft to my eye. It appears that the sun was coming from the left which explains the darkness of the eye. I would suggest that you lighten the eye a bit, as it is very dark, and maybe consider adding a catch light. Nice job!

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Sharp with good details, nice colorful background and a handsome pose. As mentioned you did very well on the whites. I might consider adding more room all round and run NR on just the background.

[John Chardine]

Agree with the above. Really tough conditions with the blast of sun hitting this beautiful bird. It may not be possible but I think bringing the eye to life as Kerry suggests would be a good plan. Agree more room is needed to give the bird a bit of space.

[Reynir Skarsgard]

Thanks for your comments.

I agree with you about the eye, it does need a catchlight and that shouldn't be too hard to fix.
This shot was part of an challenge I set myself to get a proper exposure in camera, no blown whites, in direct sun. Quite difficult with a white bird like that but I think I managed it fairly well, a nice learning experience.
Here is a link to another shot of the same bird, http://www.flickr.com/photos/reynirsk/5696664757/, bit more space around her, catchlight in the eye, I did a bit of highlight recovery on that one though.