Corey Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)

[shane shacaluga]

Went out in my boat this afternoon in strong winds to test my new camera. The shearwaters and gannets were out in force but the strong winds and waves made it pretty difficult

I was amazed how well my new D800e tracked the birds even when the went between crests of waves

I have many good shots. all nearly full frame

This particular crop is over 6000 pixels wide. I can even see up the birds nostrils in the original shot

D800e
300f4 + 1.7x TC
SS 1/3200
f7.1
ISO 500

C&C welcome.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice incoming pose and good exposure, it is a bit soft as presented. you may want to try sharpening him more. the specular highlights in the BG are distracting, I would clone them out

TFS

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot for your comments Arash

To be honest I never know when i have sharpened enough as when i resize for web and then sharpen, when i zoom in a bit to check results i get a pixelated view which worries me so i dont sharpen any more

Here is a new version taking into account your comments.

I was also contemplating a close crop to get the details of the face but i would have chopped off the wings.

[arash_hazeghi]

repost is MUCH better

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot ;)

[Joe Murphy]

Good job on the repost, great head-on shot Shane

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Repost pops a lot more, nicely done. I like the incoming bird's pose and the dark BG, nice work.