Captured this down the coast at La Jolla in February. These head throws are quick, but if you observe the stretching and grooming you get to know when it could happen.
My questions on this are on composition. I personally like it; although the body is cut, it is a cut which gives a solid base to the image. This is full frame, so can't change it on this particular image in any case, and where they sit on the rock is not particularly photogenic... For me this is all about the smooth curve. I could possibly get more out of the dark feathers.
Canon 1DXII, 400/2.8II handheld.
f6.3, 1/3200, ISO 1000, lightly processed in Lightroom.
Greg
A really interesting pose although I'm not familiar with this species. Agree it would be worth trying to get some detail in that black neck. As for composition, I think this may work better by cropping to maybe half way down the wings. Nice frame all the same and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions Glenn. If you haven't seen these, they are very common on the California coast. This one is in breeding plumage, probably fading. The shapes as they stretch their pouches make for interesting abstracts.
Greg