Love You Honey...

[Arthur Morris]

These Northern Gannets were photographed on Bonavanture Island with the tripod mounted Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens and the EOS-Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops off the sky set manually: 1/800 sec. at f/4. Fill flash at +1 stop with Better Beamer.

A single pair had a nest with one egg on the roof of a viewing platform making it easy to create images with clean sky BKGRs.

I am in Montreal and will be home late tomorrow.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Doug Brown]

Such beautiful birds. I like the diagonal running from LUC to RLC and of course the feeding behavior. Great exposure too (thanks for telling us how you metered).

[Sharna Lee]

WOW! *bows to Mr. Morris*

Thanks for the specs. It's people like you that inspire us newbies the most. Your kindness for adding exactly what you did just helps us so much in our trek for great photographs. Thanks for the info and the inspiration.

Sharna

[Mike Lentz]

Very nice! The soothing exposure is what caught my eye!

[Stephen Stephen]

Artie, beautiful exposure of these birds against the bright sky. I really like the fact that you kept the piece of leave in the lower centre. It offers a sense of motion as it falls.

Too bad that you couldn't make here to Ottawa. You're only a two hour drive away. Perhaps Dan Cadieux and I can take you out another time.

[Brian Wong]

Hi Artie!

Welcome back! We missed you! I love the beautiful light blue and pink pastels, and the background complements really nicely. I like the study of shades of white, with the sharp contrast of the face and eyes. The green foliage tells the sweet story ... a very attractive image. I'm sure you intentionally left the central lone falling green leaf, but I do seem to gravitate toward it (trying to figure out what it is). I also agree with Doug that there is a nice diagonal flow as I view from left to right.

[John Chardine]

Yes Artie, I remember this pair well. I hope they end up producing a chick- no reason why they shouldn't. I would never have thought to set the flash to +1 for this but it has produced beautiful, soft whites right "at the edge", which is really nice. This pair's choice of nest material is quite different to the normal seaweed and grass and adds a great splash of colour to the image. I think this image would work with a tighter crop as an alternative, maybe eliminating most of the bodies of both birds.

I'm still dreaming of gannets at night.

[Raul Quinones]

Beautiful picture and subjects, the eyes and green grab my attention.
I read the specs... but I will need to write them downs and try to understand why... This maybe a "rookie" questions, Does the birds were backlit?

Thanks
Raul

[Grace Scalzo]

Such sweet interaction. Welcome home.

[Grady Weed]

The emotion conveyed here makes the image. The soft whites and the light tan browns, combined with the black lines on the face and the eyes....bonus! Technical information is very much appreciated. Practice and patience, and lots of frames. A very soft pleasing image here.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like how the hint of blue in the sky makes the eyerings stand out. I also like how you left the falling tidbit there...for many(including me) it would have been very tempting to get rid of.

[Lance Peters]

Wonderful image - love the BG and the interaction.

:)

[Judy Becker]

Beautiful photo but just one question ..... my eye goes to that little leaf in the lower center. Is there a reason you left it in ?

[Dave Courtenay]

Sorry but the image looks over exposed to me, I downloaded it and adjusted the levels down to .80-.73 and it gives a reality to the image-more detail in the sky and feathers-very nice image showing interaction between the birds and the folage makes the image-just looks bright to me

Dave

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great mood, interaction and choice of exposure. The bunch of greens almost look as if you got them at a supermarket. :) There are sharpening halos around the pupils.

As for Dave's comment, changing the midtone slider works, too, but it results in a different image.

[LouBuonomo]

You know the little falling leaf makes it for me.. not sure why but it does.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

This is an oustanding image Artie. Love the composition and the wonderful soft BG that compliments the gannets so beutifully and thus making the eyes a real focal point in this image. Besides all the this it tells a great love story. Love it !!!!!!!!!!!

[Roger Williams]

A lovely, intimate image. Looks like a pastel painting............except for the bit of leaf. That bit makes the scene real and gravity brings action to the image.

[Fabs Forns]

Stunning composition, with one head lower than the other, soft pastel colors work for me, it has an ethereal quality that would be lost adding contrast or darkening the id-tomes IMO
Glad you had what looks like a great trip.

Welcome home!

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, beautiful exposure of these birds against the bright sky. I really like the fact that you kept the piece of leave in the lower centre. It offers a sense of motion as it falls.

Too bad that you couldn't make here to Ottawa. You're only a two hour drive away. Perhaps Dan Cadieux and I can take you out another time.

I would love to meet you both somewhere down the line. Glad that you liked the falling leaf.

[Arthur Morris]

Yes Artie, I remember this pair well. I hope they end up producing a chick- no reason why they shouldn't. I would never have thought to set the flash to +1 for this but it has produced beautiful, soft whites right "at the edge", which is really nice. This pair's choice of nest material is quite different to the normal seaweed and grass and adds a great splash of colour to the image. I think this image would work with a tighter crop as an alternative, maybe eliminating most of the bodies of both birds.

I'm still dreaming of gannets at night.

We did see an egg so they are half way there!

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful picture and subjects, the eyes and green grab my attention.
I read the specs... but I will need to write them downs and try to understand why... This maybe a "rookie" questions, Does the birds were backlit?

Thanks
Raul

Quoting myself and ABP II: "When the sky is white and the sun is not out, the meter is dumb. Thus you need to add lots of light in such situations. The backlight was very faint at best.

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful photo but just one question ..... my eye goes to that little leaf in the lower center. Is there a reason you left it in ?

I feel that it move the viewer's eye around the frame, from the bird's riveting eyes, to the green stuff, to the falling bit, and then back to the bird's eye's, and maybe add a trip up and down the diagonal of the backs.

It was, however, a personal decision that could have gone either way. And one can always make two versions...

[Arthur Morris]

Sorry but the image looks over exposed to me, I downloaded it and adjusted the levels down to .80-.73 and it gives a reality to the image-more detail in the sky and feathers-very nice image showing interaction between the birds and the folage makes the image-just looks bright to me

Dave

The image may look too bright to you and I am fine with that but it is certainly not over-exposed as there is detail in all the whites. Brightness is subject to taste and here, with the calibration strip right on, it looks wonderful to me.

ps to all, esp. Roger :) Thanks for all the wonderful comments.

[Grady Weed]

Leave the leaf, it adds a tremendous amount of emotional appeal. This belongs in a museum Art.

[Khun Hans]

Perfect balance of the whites