Black-browed Albatross

[Nancy Bell]

I think these albatross are super handsome birds. This was photographed on New Island in the Falklands Islands earlier this month on a fabulous Cheesemen's Ecology trip. The colony was huge and stretched for miles between a rugged shore and tall, thick tussock grasses. We approached the colony from the tussock side and I struggled to the colony edge, occasionally falling into the deep holes between tussock clumps. The tussocks were well over my head on a steep down slope. Once in position I was totally amazed that the albatross were not concerned that you were sitting right next to them! It was a glorious experience!

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS @ 115, 1/3200, f6.3, exp. comp -1/3, ISO 400, handheld

All c & c most welcome.

[Peter Dexter]

A stunning portrait and tack sharp. You might crop out the back and just have the neck and head.

[Doug Brown]

A beautiful bird captured in incredible detail! I might try to lighten the black feathers above the eye to create better separation from the eye. Did you try stopping down at all? It looks like you had more than enough light with a shutter speed of 1/3200. It would have helped nail the sharpness at the tip of the bill. I like Peter's idea about the crop. Isn't it amazing when birds let you get incredibly close?!

[Karl Egressy]

You are right about it Nancy. The are veutiful birds. The details are just amazing!!! He/she looks proud and confident.
I only saw them once on Galapagos Island but the species were different if I recall right.

[Satish Ranadive]

Nancy:
Classic Portrait,which keeps the viewer engage all the time.
Love the superb details in whites,nice eye contact and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[dankearl]

A really nice portrait of a fantastic bird.
Lucky you for the experience!
Detail and sharpness is superb.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent details in this close-up! Well done Nancy.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome shot Nancy, super detail and incredibly sharp! Well done.

[Robert Holguin]

Beautiful image.
Excellent head angle, nice details, composed very well, and nice background.
Very well done.

[PhilCook]

Just lovely Nancy, beak tip to back of head in perfect focus, lovely exposure with the details in the white, 10/10

[David Salem]

Great shot and the techs are perfect. I love a good close up and this one is nice. Maybe the head only. Either way a great job.

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you all very much! I agree an alternate crop could just include the neck & head. Doug, when I looked at the camera details I also wondered what I was thinking with the 1/3200 and only f6.3? As I think back I was taking flight shots as the birds flew close to the colony to land. This individual then caught my attention and I didn't change the settings . Good suggestion to lighten a bit around the eye. Thanks.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm going against the grain and say keep the bit of body showing there, it anchors the image nicely. A bird with a longer thinner neck works well for a "neck and head only" crop but this one would look too short in the frame IMO. Good techs. I would only tone down the dark area in the BG at bill tip.

Sounds like you had a great time!!