South Georgia Giant Petrel

[pat lillich]

just about the most fun on the South Georgia/Falklands trip was standing at the back of the ship, braced against whatever happened to be handy, taking pictures of the birds flying against the sometimes wild seas. I think this one is a Giant petrel

canon 1dmk4, 400mm f/4 DO, 1/1600 sec at f/7.1 iso 640 handheld (thank goodness for the kinesis harness!)

cropped in LR, nik tonal contrast on bird, usharp mask in PS - wish i was better at processing these, so i could better share the fun i had in taking them.

[Dan Busby]

This one puts me right there with you on the back of the ship Pat. I love the ambience that it evokes. The sea waves in the background come through to provide the setting and the lighting on the bird is great, with nice eye contact. Detail on the bird seems a tad soft to my eye but it doesn't matter, the mood carries this one for me.

[gail bisson]

I really like the BG. Really gives the feel of the ocean.
I wouldn't mind a bit more space on the right and bottom.
I have to agree with Dan that the bird seems a bit soft,
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent image of this species I have never seen, Pat.

[Alan Murphy]

A great shot of a killer species. Wish it was mine Pat.

[Randy Stout]

Pat:

Really gives you a feel for the rough seas they live above, good separation from the BG. Yes, a little soft on the face, worth a little more tweaking.

Makes me sea sick a bit to look at those seas, and I suspect that was 'mild'

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

I agree with all the kudos, the photo makes you feel the action and is a really nice habitat shot.

[Tim King]

A great bird on an amazing background. Fine job.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This photo really gives us a feel of the conditions you had to photograph this. Love that wave in the BG. I agree with more room. The image looks properly focussed so I suspect the softeness is due to lack of sharpening for web. Well done Pat!!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Cool shot. I really like the wave in the bg it adds to the story and action :)

[Shawn Zierman]

Agree with every positive mentioned so far, the image has a lot going for it.
I also think Daniel hit the nail on the head in regards to the subject's sharpness.
How did you sharpen the image?

[pat lillich]

thanks folks for the input and especially the positive comments, we ended up at force9 that day, I think - or perhaps the next day, but this was from before the winds got that wild - waves were still beautiful... i messed up the post processing - was dithering around and sharpened, then cropped the right side (i am horrible at crops) and then saved for web. will go back to the original, not crop the right side, save for web and then sharpen the jpg and see if that works better. thanks again!

[Melissa Groo]

Wonderful to see you posting, Pat! And to hear that you had a super time. This image and your description really make me feel like I'm right there with you, I get a real sense of cold, of turbulence, of adventure. Excellent image of this petrel.

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot.
Love the background, excellent flight pose, great comp, nice light, and exposed very well.
Very well done.