Black-broweds Nuzzling

[Arthur Morris]

This pair of courting Black-browed Albatrosses was photographed on New Island in the Falklands with the tripod-mounted Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode.

Don't be shy: all honest comments welcome.

For more on this image including the BreezeBrowser main view screen capture that shows the focus points see Love Is (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2012/02/04/love-is/).

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, not easy, these ones. loved the comp, soft details, bill texture...and the moment of course. sweet Bg and perfect eye-level shooting position.

[Tom Rambaut]

The IQ is exceptional. Front cover image.

[Jack Breakfast]

i'm glad to see that 300mm f2.8 has worked out so well for you. Aside from being an image that, to me, is beyond reproach, you've got an image with some charm and character too. This is what auctioneers and talent agents call a "triple threat"

[arash_hazeghi]

great light and super interaction, a nice BG. I am sure you can extract more texture detail from the whites, as presented they look a bit flat (in terms of detail)
great work TFS.

[Robert Rommel]

Fantastic image with some great behavior and an interesting background. To me it seems like a perfect job processing the image from probably was a overcase and dreary day. Rich colors and tonal range, but still keeps an endearing softness.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Arthur! I like the interaction, lighting, sharpness and BG.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Absolutely exquisite !! The exposure is just phenomenal . Tried an alternative crop avoiding the grey back of the bird .

[Vivaldo Damilano]

I am loving the interaction and colourful BG. Whites look very smooth and I wonder if more detail was possible? Both birds are very sharp, nicely done Artie.

[Mital Patel]

Guru this is real gem. bang on expo and that creamy feel.
was surprise to see the thin black line on the both albatross edge.
At certain point i might think also with what Arash said to get some texture.
THough have not seen them i feel it would be foolish to say that :)

Here is what i've tried.
Albatrosses body except Beak - "NIK Detail Extractor"
Photofilter Adjustment Layer "Deep Blue" 25%

[Arthur Morris]

Absolutely exquisite !! The exposure is just phenomenal . Tried an alternative crop avoiding the grey back of the bird .

Thank you Bhai. I do prefer the wider crop.

[Arthur Morris]

Guru this is real gem. bang on expo and that creamy feel. was surprise to see the thin black line on the both albatross edge. At certain point i might think also with what Arash said to get some texture. THough have not seen them i feel it would be foolish to say that :) Here is what i've tried. Albatrosses body except Beak - "NIK Detail Extractor" Photofilter Adjustment Layer "Deep Blue" 25%

Thank you too Bhai. For me, a good deal of the whites are greyed out. Perhaps at 20 or 30% opacity it would have worked better. You need to be careful with Detail Extractor. I do like it on the bird's back.