Tufted Puffin Takeoff

[Doug Brown]

I photographed this Tufted Puffin from a boat in Alaska this summer. My wife and I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip up there (3 days from deciding to go to our arrival), and we had a great time!

Canon 1Dx2, 600mm + 1.4x, f/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 640, manual exposure, hand held

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi Doug, What a great shot, great colors and details, nice and sharp, I like the pose and wing position, the water splash just adds that extra motion to the shot, Really great job!
Ps. Might be down at the Bosque during your workshop if so might drop by and say Hi.



Brian

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Doug, great eye level capture here which I presume was from a boat. Love the 'dancing' pose with the raised right foot, extended wings, and the trailing droplets. Overall well exposed and sharp.

[Mike Poole]

Superb take off shot Doug, I love the pose with the wings up, and the trailing water droplets forming the arc behind the near foot add a lot to the scene.

Mike

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Doug - Great low pov and like how it pops against the blue sea. I too like the wing position and trailing water drops. I do wonder if the whites of the face should be tamed slightly.

TFS,
Rachel

[Geoff Newhouse]

Very nice image. The whites are a bit hot but personally in an image of an almost all black bird with small area of white I would rather have the blacks correct (as they are here) and leave the white blown a bit. I don't think seeing detail in that white patch matters much.

TFS
Geoff

[Isaac Grant]

Excellent taking off pose. Love the raised foot and the splash of water behind the bird. Exposure and details in the blacks are excellent. I really like the framing as well. Such a great image.

[Doug Brown]

Very nice image. The whites are a bit hot but personally in an image of an almost all black bird with small area of white I would rather have the blacks correct (as they are here) and leave the white blown a bit. I don't think seeing detail in that white patch matters much.

Thanks Geoff. To clarify, these whites are bright but they are not blown; having said that, I could definitely see bringing them down a bit. Unfortunately at this resolution, there's almost no visible detail in the whites. I'll try a repost and let you give me a verdict.

[Doug Brown]

Here's a reprocessed version with more detail in the whites.

[Doug Brown]

Here's a magnified view (greater than 100% magnification) of the detail in the whites. The detail is tough to pick out in the version I posted above.

[Tim Foltz]

Doug, I love puffins, I've only seen them at Seaworld and public aquariums.
This is a treat to see this in takeoff mode and this angle, what's not to like.

-Tim

[arash_hazeghi]

awesome take off pose with the trailing water, looks like a productive trip despite the last minute planning!

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image with lovely blues. Absolutely superb pose with beautiful trail of water from foot.
lovely compassion.

Regards,
Satish.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for the comments everyone!