Cape Petrel

[Tony Whitehead]

Taken while crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica this past Southern hemisphere summer.
Nikon D810, Nikon 200-400mm f4 VR lens @ 400mm, ISO 800 1/1600s f4 manual exposure, handheld
LR5, Photoshop CC, Nik Color Efex Pro4 (Tonal Contrast)
Comments and advice appreciated as always

[christopher galeski]

nice flight pose,maybe lighten the head a bit more,and bit more room round the bird.TFS.

[Ian Wilson]

Looks like you could have done with a bit more light. Regards, Ian.

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

It does read a bit dark to me as well, and is crowded in the frame.

Excellent dorsal view, eye contact.

I suspect it was a bit on the dim side, but would consider brightening it up a bit.

Cheers

Randy

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the banking pose, BG and HA. Good suggestions above to make this image even better. Very well done Tony.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Tony, I really like these banking images with the full wingspread diagonally across the frame. Great dorsal view, and I do like the BG. With regards to exposure, I would just lighten the eye.

Im glad you have started posting your Antarctica images. Looking forward to lots more.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Nice shot in not so nice conditions. I am glad to see some glimmer in the bird's eye too, which now does not get lost in the dark plumage.
Lovely framing (albeit a little tight for my own taste)
TFS Tony

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Excellent pose and a species I'd love to see and photograph. I'd move the bird further into the frame a bit. Agree that brightening the eye would help. 1/1600 at iso 800 sounds like a good amount of light to me:) I think the D810 could easily handle higher ISOs if you really needed.
TFS Tony, and looking forward to more from your trip.

[adrian dancy]

The problem with light is not just what is available but its general quality which is subject to a number of factors. This is, I imagine, is a very difficult bird to expose even at the best of times! So a good capture given the circumstances.

[Tony Whitehead]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Pitching deck on a Drake passage is an interesting bird photography environment with little control of lighting options. Had a bit more light for a time on the return journey and will post another image of this species