This is a rather old image taken waaaay back in 2003 when I was one of the leaders on an Antarctica trip. We were on the subantarctic island of South Georgia at a wonderful place known as Gold Harbor. Several clients and I were up on a grassy headland, more than 200 feet above the ocean, watching albatrosses in the distance. A pair of Light-mantled Albatrosses had a nest on the rocky cliff edge about 200 meters away. An adult Light-mantled Albatross, I believe one of the nesting pair from the nest in the distance, made a couple of passes by us, and seemed curious about our presence on its hilltop. It was an overcast yet bright day and the sky was more or less white so the flight shots I took are marginal. Anyway, the albatross made a few tighter circles, then came down and landed within 8 to 10 feet of our group of 20 people! We were all sitting quietly in the grass and no one made a move. The albatross seemed to look each of us individually in the eye as it stood there on the edge of the cliff and I was able to get a few shots with the distant ocean as a background with a 70-200 lens. After about 30 seconds the bird took wing again, seemingly having satisfied its curiosity. It was a special moment for everyone and I've always liked this image. Simple, no action, but just pure elegance. The plumage of this bird seems as if it was made of porcelain. I've played around with darkening the background a little, but I always come back to the way the scene looked naturally. Any thoughts on ways I could make this shot look better?
Canon EOS 10D
200 ISO
EF 70-200 mm F/2.8 L IS lens, hand-held
1/500 sec @ f/8.0
I think this works well just as you presented it. You have good eye contact with the bird and the eye and beak are sharp. The over shoulder look helps us to see his side and back plumage. I like the grass and the blue BG works extremely well with the gray bird. Well done.
Very striking image woth excellent color and detail. I also like the angle of this image and agree with robert that the grass is a very nice touch. thanks for sharing Greg.
Light-mantled elegance
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