Black-legged Kittiwakes

[Mike Landwehr]

We were in a Zodiac boat circling St. Bonaventure Island last June, and I was trying to photograph the black and white rockets they call murres and razorbills as they dropped down off the cliffs. Occasionally a pair of black-legged kittiwakes would get into a tussle, and flutter down off the cliff to continue their argument in the water. I generally ignored them, but found when I got home that I had taken a single grab shot of one pair in the water. I wish I had taken more! The IQ isn't quite what I'd like, but I feel fortunate to have the image. Processing consisted of a significant crop, Color Efex Tonal Contrast, addition of some canvas on the left edge, and a little noise reduction. Any C & C appreciated.

Canon 7D
500 f/4
1/5000 @ f/4.5
ISO 1600
Hand held

[John Rowell]

I really like the very high contrast between the black background and the rockets. The red and yellow beaks demand your attention. Whites are a bit hot but you've done a good job overall with this image for a grab shot. This high contrast image is very appealing. My only issue is that the eyes look dull, but I'd be happy to have this shot.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice interaction, however something appears unnatural here : the gulls are nicely exposed but the eyes are pitch black and have no detail. Is that an artifact of your processing or were the membranes closed? if the membranes were closed I would not add contrast as it makes it look funny. I think you need to re process that part.

the interaction is very nice and dynamic

TFS

[Mike Landwehr]

Arash, you make a good point. I didn't do anything to the eyes during processing--just Color Efex Tonal Contrast and a touch of noise reduction, both applied to the entire image. The image was taken at 6:25 in the morning, so the sun was still low, but the sun was at our back, and we had a good sun angle. The background is very dark, and the water dark brown or black, in all of the images taken during that time period. During the raw conversion, I left the temp untouched at 5650, adjusted the exposure by only -.10 stop, boosted blacks only slightly (from 5 up to 10), and added clarity of +15. I just looked at several dozen photos of kttiwakes on the internet, and every bird had jet black eyes, with absolutely no detail. At the same time, I also looked at some shots I took of kittiwakes perched up on the cliffside, in the sun, and they do have highlights in their eyes. Perhaps we'll get a comment from someone who has experience photographing kittiwakes?

[arash_hazeghi]

It's strange that there are no catchlights given that the sun was over your shoulder. can you post a crop from the eye as it appears in RAW capture with no adjustment?

are their eyes naturally so dark?

[Mike Landwehr]

Arash, this crop is after raw conversion with no adjustment or post-processing of any kind. In looking at other images taken around that time, it does appear that we were shooting under white/overcast skies around that point in time.

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks Mike, overcast explains it. They do have really dark eyes. If it's within your limits I'd add a small catch light for each to give it a bit more punch

great work.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

The action is great here including the movement of that wave and the splashing water and open bills. It all comes together so nicely

[Troy Lim]

I like the high contrast here. The action and the shot makes up for both sharpness of the subjects.
Nice moment captured.