Razorbill

[gail bisson]

I took this in Iceland this past July.
I had been photographing this fellow in a landscape orientation and decided to do some verticals. Of course, 3 seconds after I did this, he/she did a wing stretch. I missed the entire sequence but kept shooting in case I got "something".
Some of you may wonder why I didn't (quickly) swing the camera back to landscape orientation mode but when you are hanging off the edge of a very windy cliff, everything is tightened down on the gimbal and lens cuff. It is very hard to move quickly!
Anyway, I was glad to have this image from the sequence.
Canon 1 DX 600 mm 1.4 X
ISO 500 SS 1/1250 F 7.1
Cropped for comp. Usual LR sliders and off to PS for levels and enhanced the existing catchlight.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Very nice dorsal view, Gail. Perfectly exposed with wonderful detail. What I really like is the eye. In my limited experience their eyes are often just thin slits; and when open are so dark you can't distinguish them from the head. I suppose getting rid of the oof rock in the BG might heighten the drama of the edge perch, but I'll take it either way.

[Isaac Grant]

I looked at this picture and then read the comments and basically thought exactly what Bill said. Sweet pose and details. Has your signature look to it as well. I too would consider losing the oof rock and maybe even the green blob on the lower left where your signature is.

[Alex Becker]

Really nice Gail, I love the pose and can only echo Bill in that the eye is what really makes this frame special. I agree with Isaac re: cloning the green bit in the corner. TFS -- looks like the Iceland trip was really successful

[Tim Foltz]

Gail, nice pose, exposure and detail. I don't mind the BG rock or the green OOF because it is what nature provided.

-Tim

[Glenn Pure]

Beautiful work Gail. You show your mastery of tones in a difficult subject like this. I'm with Tim on not making the shot too 'perfect'. IQ is absolutely brilliant. And I'm glad you survived the cliff edge. The things we will do for a photo... thanks for a wonderful image.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gail this is pure magic! One if not the best guillemot images I have seen, the pose and exposure are excellent, the background is just about perfect. The plumage detail and the eye are superb.
I like exactly as presented, it is very clean and tidy, my personal feel if you clean up the OOF rock and the faint green area it will look so clean and tidy it would make the viewer think it had indeed been tidied up.
Boy did you have a good trip to Iceland, you really did return with some gems - congratulations.

[annmpacheco]

Well done Gail, super exposure and a delightful wing pose! I like the slight sheen and the symmetry.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Great capture, Gail. Not always easy to get a unique pose from these beauties, but you've found a superb one. Wonderful wing position, and I love the fluffed up breast feathers. Nice to see the eye so clearly too.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, excellent exposure here, which in turn shows up the feather detail nicely. I do like the head turn, and your vertical comp suits the pose perfectly. Lovely clean upper BG.