Albatross

Hi folks ... again a bird from Helgoland .
And this is soooo special ... what I had been told back in 2015 . I am no birder at all .... so have no real knowledge , normally there is a fair amount of visitors on the island due to various reasons .
But for seeing this single Albatros ... a lot of birders came to visit the island . I just more or less bumped into the bird ...... as I was going from the dune ( for the seals) to the cliffs ( for the birds ) back and forth . The dune is another little small island just a few hundred meters of Helgoland .
Coming back for the evening shooting to the cliffs ..... I was wondering about the mass of people at the cliffs , lost of binocs and lost of lenses to see . Just asked some folks there .... they were looking at me and asking why I do not know ???!!!
Most were here because of this single Albatros .... so I witnessed this sensation !!!!
It was even on the local news and a film crew came as well ......

Sadly I have forgotten which species it is .... you folks might help yourself .

Canon EOS 1Dx
EF 500 IS L
Tripod

F 6,3 ; Iso 1600 ; 1/2500 sec ; man exp

Processed with Capture One 20 and PSCC 2020 ; with hindsight i would have been better of by moving a bit back to get more room at the foot of the image for the virtual feet . But due to the loads of people it was difficult to get a spot for shooting this rarity .

Thanks for looking and commenting to my previous posting

Cheers Andreas

The light sure was nice here. It also gives the image some nice depth. The background is spot on. I don't mind the framing.

Other than the tightness, I love the late side light treatment here. TFS

Not sure if the light or processing but you have no detail at all in the head feathers..
maybe the species, I love the light and the bill is very sharp.

Thanks folks for your kind comment , much appreciated .

Dan i smoothed out the head feather structure , thought it is a beauty retouch I was working on :w3. Breast , eye and bill are sharp .... what does that mean ??

TFS Andreas

Hi Andreas, nice image of a Albatros. I understand and can relate to photographing when a bird attracts crowds for a lifetime experience. I read in your comments that you smoothed out the feathers on the head, I guess I would like to see what the image looked like without that done. I also read your comments regarding the virtual feet, if the image quality held I might crop eliminating the feet more like a portrait. Wonderful experience, thank you for sharing.

P.S. You had better be careful you might become smitten by bird photography.:wave:

Thanks Joseph for your comment ....
Just for clarification .... no smoothing of the head , it was meant ironic due to a comment above !!!
It is natural feather structure

Cheers Andreas

I remember this moment on the news....Well captured Andreas. I really like the light on the feathers, a wee bit better HA would be nice.

Will

Incredible find for the location. Albatrosses don't occur anywhere in the North Atlantic except as rare vagrants. This is a Black-browed, Yellow-nosed being the only other species recorded in Northern Europe.

I like the golden sidelighting; I think it makes for a very dramatic image. The blue behind is also very nice. These birds have very smooth facial feathers, and I think the image is representative of that. I've
seen loads of these in New Zealand.

Thanks Will and Dorian for your kind comments , much appreciated .

Dorian thanks for the help with the ID ... now when you say that , I remember the species .

Just wondering that nobody mentioned that shadow on the RHS on the bird ... I find it really annoying , it is a shadow created by a gannet :bg3:.

Cheers Andreas

Sweet light. Sidelight can be tricky to pull off, but you did it here with he face nicely splashed with hat light. I wish for a bit better head angle towards us, but the important thing is that the bill is clear of the body. Not a fan of the bottom part of the image, but that is what was presented to you. I can relate being stuck in a spot between hoards of people and the subject....