Young couple

[John Chardine]

These young Northern Gannets were building a nest but it's late in the season for eggs so they will have to leave it to next year.

Small crop and sharpen. Comments welcome.

PS the new 70-300 L lens is really nice!

Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 300 mm
Program: Manual
ISO 640, 1/1600s, f/7.1
Exp. comp.: 0.0
Flash: on, Flash exp. comp.: -2.0

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Amazing image, John!
Very very artistic. I would readily hang this at a prominent location.
Perfect exposure and superb interaction.
Do you have any more room to the right?

[Jim Neiger]

Wonderful image! I think it needs a bit more saturation and contrast to make it really pop. A definite wall hanger!

[Marina Scarr]

Love the interaction here. Looks tight on the right, and I would give it more contrast and saturation. Once you have optimized this image, it will be a true stunner.

[Ofer Levy]

Beautiful behaviour captured! Agree with the comments regarding the composition and contarst/levels.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose details and interaction, yes to more contrast/sat.

[christopher galeski]

Beautiful image John,I agree on a bit more room on the right,and contrast and sat,thanks.

[Paul Randall]

Agree about more room on the right and also a very gentle saturation boost to the yellowish/cream heads. Contrast seems spot on to me. Such an intimate moment captured, well done :S3:

[gail bisson]

Absolutely beautiful. I love the interaction. Definitely a wall hanger. Agree about more room on right. Otherwise perfect.
Gail

[DanWalters]

LIke the tight crop and the interaction. Nice light background as well.

[John Chardine]

Thank you for all the great comments so far. When I looked at the image on the LCD I thought I had clipped the right side but checked and the head was just in. So unfortunately I don't have any more room at the right. I could add canvas if I were doing a print for my wall. I'll also look at the saturation and contrast. I'm working on my Macbook monitor and although it's calibrated I don't think it's as good as a nice studio monitor.

Dan- In colonies, it's quite hard to find places where you can isolate birds. At Bonaventure, some birds roost or nest on the roof of one of the observation platforms and this is a really good place to get nice skies behind the birds.

[Wynand van Wyk]

Ditto above. Love the detail and contrast. Superb exposure! I like it a lot.


Well done!:S3:

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely moment captured John.

Dave

[Tin Man Lee]

Beautiful sweet moment. I like how the gannet on the left lean back, so nice! Great job in getting soft light to remove harsh shadows. Nice non distracting background. Super sharp. I would be tempted to use nik software to bring up some feather structure near the head and neck. Overall a stunning photo! I would love to have this shot!

[Kiran Poonacha]

Great moment captured here, loved the mood.

[Karl Egressy]

A truly amazing artistic picture, John.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great interaction and pose! A real piece of art John.

[Paul Lagasi]

..One lovely image, my friend. Tender moment, nice composition, thanks for posting. Lens looks like a winner.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Very pretty couple and love the interaction too.

[Arno Ellmer]

Beautiful capture,John.The image is so delicate and artistic.I love the sharpness as well as the HA of both birds.
Agree with tightness on right and comments on PP
Superb!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

John, what a stunning shot. loved the tightness and the behavior. This has potential to do well in contests. Superb composition.

[John Chardine]

Thank you KD, and others. I am not really a content enterer yet but I might reconsider! So you don't think the tightness on the right is a deal-breaker?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

John, I dont know how the contest judges decide, but no, I dont think it is a deal breaker. You might want to just crop tighter from the other side for balance.

Here is what I came up with. slight sat boost, deepening of shadows, some crop from left and tad from top.

96486

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I love this image and would be so happy to own it as the artist who created it but also as the collector who purchased it for my walls. It's just got that whatever thing that makes an image stand out. From the great intimate interaction to the great light bg and sweet light on the subjects. I like the suggestions and feel the image is well worth the extra work.

[John Chardine]

Thanks for the kind words Cheryl and many thanks for the repost KD. I like the logic of making the image a bit tighter to the left and top to balance the out of camera tightness on the right.

[John Chardine]

By the way, I am happy in a way that no one mentioned the dirty breast on the female. They get dirty building the nest and it's of course totally natural. There has been quite a lot of discussion on BPN about "sanitizing" our images and I must say it has had a big impact on me. I could have easily removed the dirt and reported this in the OP but chose not to.

[susanschermer]

Beautiful intimate image, like Jim said, a wallhanger. Great meeting you on Bonaventure.

[annmpacheco]

Hi John,
What a treasure you have here. I had the privilege to learn and shoot with you this last weekend on my maiden voyage to Bonaventure Island, Quebec, (gannet headquarters and gannet nirvana). This tender capture evokes the beauty of "gannets to come". Your knowledge of both photography and ornithology along with the 100,000 gannets (more or less!), made this venture a most lasting lifetime experience. You are a most kind and dedicated gentleman that will make any bird and newbie photographer smile. Thank you. Up on the wall John! Ann

[John Chardine]

Hi Susan and Ann- Thank you for your kind comments. It was a real pleasure to meet both of you. Too bad we didn't have more time Susan.