Parasitic Jaeger

[gail bisson]

Taken during Matthew Studebakers' workshop in Nome. (June 2013). Day was very dark and rainy.
Canon 1DX
F 600II and 1.4X
ISO800
F 5.6 @1/1000
PP: 70% FF, NR to BG. levels, trimmed a couple of stray blades of grass under the tail, DE to bird at 4%, USM to JPEG.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Julie Brown]

Hi Gail. Super detail on the bird with an interesting foreground and nice blurred background. I like the subdued light. I saw my first Parasitic Jaeger last October chasing terns over the ocean in Cape May. I would love to see one in a setting like this.

[Karl Egressy]

It is great to see one in its natural habitat. Excellent image quality, perfect exposure and nice stormy looking background, Gail.

[dankearl]

It looks alive, Gail, I don't know how much better this could be.
I love the dark light and beautiful BG.

[Grace Scalzo]

Lovely work, Gail. I like the head turn and inclusion of habitat. (Our group saw this species on a sunny mid-day and we struggled with heat shimmer, you benefitted from the dreary weather in this case.)

[David Salem]

Great look at this species Gail. The HA and the pose is very nice and I really like the BG on this one. Your detail and exposure control looks right on. Well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, good look back pose, and I really like the layers of feathers showing up. I quite like the 'darker' feel to the overall image, and lovely colours in the BG.

[Frank Schauf]

Great pose and setting you have here.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image of Jaeger in beautiful environment. Very pose and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Shawn Zierman]

Handsome bird, moody light quality...I dig it. The tundra carpet is so pretty. You were just shooting at a low enough angle to get some nice clearance between the underside of the bird and ground,...well done. One consideration here would be to lighten the glassy sky catchlight in the bird's right eye...the eye is a bit dull as is, and though this would only be a small tweak, I think it would be worthwhile. Regal proud bird. How close to a nest site? I'm guessing they just naturally hunker down if one gets close....if they're not dive bombing you that is :)