Blue Eyes

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Brand's Cormorant photographed last weekend at the Breakwater Cove in Monterey, CA. Their blue eyes sure are mesmerizing...

Thanks for looking. JR

Canon 40D, 400F5.6, 1/1000s, F9, ISO-400, Manual Exposure

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Wow, beautiful colors. I don't think I've seen this before and thanks for sharing. Details look good, too. The light seems a bit harsh and I would prefer if there were no other area in the BG crossing the bird's head.

[John Chardine]

John- This is fabulous. The blue as rendered is amazing- not sure what type of blue you would call this? The more I photograph cormorants the more I realise how amazing they are- not just black or black and white birds. The only thing I would try with this image is to crop some of the body from the right of the image and if possible give more space on the left.

[Fabs Forns]

Aren't they beautiful? I saw them in San Diego last January, and some had some funky white feathers too.

Agree with John's suggestions, sounds like a good plan :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Looks like the same type of blue that a certain Australian bird (forget the name?) likes to collect as nest items for it's mate. I'd clone out, or QM the two dark spots at the bottom edge in LLC.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

This is a first for me. Beautiful cormorant and the blues are awesome. I second John's suggestion on the crop. Great image and many thanks for sharing John.

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderful head angle and the throat color is more amazing than the eye color. Lightening the iris a bit would likely improve it. The angled rock behind the bird's head was unforunately placed. Does not look as if you could have avoided it unless you could have gotten well lower. I am fine with the COMP.

[John Chardine]

Bowerbirds!

Looks like the same type of blue that a certain Australian bird (forget the name?) likes to collect as nest items for it's mate. I'd clone out, or QM the two dark spots at the bottom edge in LLC.

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment on this image! Much appreciated.

Yes, having the background cross the BC's head was very unfortunate. Admittedly, I didn't realize it when shooting. Just was happy to be able to isolate the BC against a somewhat decent background without any other bird in it. As so often this is the biggest problem shooting in colonies.

The contrast is definitely challenging. In fact, the rocks are decidedly much brighter in the original than in the image posted - due to poo... :( I selected the background and darkened it via levels. Was astonished to the level of detail recovered.

Composition wise I am torn. At times I wish there was more room to the left and less to the right. But then I'd prefer to leave it as is... To some extent it is encouraging to hear recommendations from both sides of the camp.

And then the blues - both in the eyes and in the throat. The latter is actually already declining - along with their white feathers on the back and on the head's side - compared to late May as breeding season is well advanced. What's amazing about the eyes is that the pattern in the iris seems to change constantly.

And yes, I should have taken care of the dark spots in the LLC. Not sure how I missed them...

Thx. JR

[Grady Weed]

In spite of the what if's, the blues are nice to see here. Excellent showcasing them. Love the look.