Campbell Albatross, the "one with the evil eye"

[Ian Wilson]

This is a medium-sized albatross of southern oceans with a wingspan up to 2.5 m. About 23,500 pairs breed on Campbell Is, New Zealand sub-Antarctic. The bird has a distinctive yellow iris, which with the scowling black eye-brow gives it a menacing look. Our deck-hand on pelagic trips off southern Australia aptly describes the bird as "the one with the evil eye" - once seen never forgotten. The ventral view nicely captures the ID features for this species. WB set on shoulder of bird. The shot was taken off Campbell Is, 9 January 2014.
Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II + 2x III extender, hand-held.
Av priority with spot metering, f/7.1, 1/5000 sec, ISO 800.
Processed in DPP: crop, adjust WB, shad/h'lights, saturation, USM, RAW-TIFF. PS Elements: background NR, adjust levels on bird, downsize TIFF-JPEG, USM.

[William Dickson]

That is a good capture Ian, just love that 'evil' eye Well done

[christopher galeski]

geat flight pose,nice detail,and the evil eye magic,this bird should be in horror movie'swell done.

[Mervyn Marsh]

One of my fav albatrosses.. nice work.. fantastic bif shot.
cheers,
Merv

[Joseph Przybyla]

I echo the previous comments, nice bird, nice capture, nice post processing. Thank you for sharing, I shall remember the "Evil Eye".

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the pose and BG, sharp. overall it's a bit dark especially in the under wings.

TFS

[Binu John]

Love this flight shot, Ian! Excellent pose, colors and details and nice PP too! Well done!

[Robert Kimbrell]

Well done Ian, A bird I don't see on BPN too much, quite the wing span. I would like to see a nice head shot of this guy.

[Ian Wilson]

Well done Ian, A bird I don't see on BPN too much, quite the wing span. I would like to see a nice head shot of this guy.

Hi Robert, Happy to oblige with a head shot. I will post one tomorrow. Regards, Ian

[Anil Skumar]

Hi Robert, Happy to oblige with a head shot. I will post one tomorrow. Regards, Ian

Well done Ian... I like the piercing gaze...

[KathieThomas]

It does look like an evil eye. Great shot Ian.

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks everyone for positive feedback and suggestions on this one - much appreciated. Regards, Ian