I hope people are enjoying the series of gannet images captured recently at Bonaventure Island. If not just say so!
On the Monday, the wind direction was such that the birds were not coming in head-on but rather to the side, like this one. In the original, there was a lot more detail in the face than is revealed here- to get the whole bird in and stick to 800 pixels means there are not many to cover smaller areas where you would really like extra detail.
I clipped the right wing of the bird and so added wingtips using APTATS techniques. I also added some canvas on left and right and bottom.
40D, 100-400 mm @ 180mm
capture date: Monday, June 16, 2008 11:34:11 AM
exposure program: Manual, +2 off grey sky
ISO speed: 500
shutter speed: 1/2000
aperture: f8.0
exposure bias: +0.0
metering: Pattern
flash: ON - Beamer, FP synch, auto, full
I certainly enjoy this series since I'm a big fan of seabirds. The use of flash really brings out the details in this image, great pose, too. I'm not sure I understand the flash setting, high sync at 0? I think I would remove the catchlight. It would be interesting to see a crop of the head.
Last edited by Axel Hildebrandt; 06-24-2008 at 04:22 PM.
Hey John, This one is a winner. No seaweed over the eye, perfect use of flash, and sharp. Plus a lovely pose and great wing postion. My favorite gannet feature are the yellow stripes on the feet! You have, however, stolen my post for tonight so you are in big trouble.. BTW, glad to see that you mastered the trick of taking an exposure reading off the sky and opening up as you did.
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Very nice John. The flash also brought out the water beads on the chest. Great job on the post processing too, and thanks telling about the modifications made. In the crop I wish the bird's right eye pupil was more visible...but since your post is about the full original image this does not apply there :-)
I do not tire of these posts John, keep them coming and it may be able to convince me for next year!!
Yes keep them coming John. This is a wonderful image and I love the beautiful wing span and the great eye contact. The seaweed puts it over the top for me. Congratulations on a beautiful image and thanks for sharing.
This is such a delight! Two people posting these beautiful birds. I do love them both. The catchlight is wonderful too. I think without it you would have a lifeless eye. Do keep them coming. As for BPN #1.... ;) I know you know he's kidding. And thanks for the tip on the opening up on the grey sky. excellent.
enough already
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