Puffin in flight

[Alex Becker]

Hi all,

I've been pretty busy so apologize for missing a lot of great shots on the forum -- I'll try to get around to going through them in the next day or two. I was in the UK for a conference and some research so went up to Farne Islands for a couple days where I had pretty overcast and windy / light rain conditions which made shooting tough but also fun. I liked the look back pose here. Added some canvas below and to the left, small crop, NR in photoshop, sharpened. BG is the ocean.

Camera: Nikon D500
Lens: 300 f/4 PF
Specs: 1/4000 ISO 2000 f/5

Thanks for looking and commenting on prior posts!
Alex

[Jonathan Ashton]

Great shot Alex, looking at the colours I wouldn't be surprised if you went 11 June?
I am not looking on a calibrated screen at the moment but the colours do indeed look very much as I recall them that day, focus looks very good and I like the backward look .

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Alex, I think 'young' Jon covered most things and being overcast was a blessing, otherwise you get into the harsh light Will experienced and so the B&W's start to go a bit 'coarse & crunchy'. Nice look back, I bet you were at the top before the steps down based on the POV? They are like speeding bullets, but great to have one with a catch too.

Just got back, so slowly editing the batch, but will try and post soon, sorry not to meet up, but here's to 2019, but NOT August as I'm in Svalbard then.

TFS
Steve

[Isaac Grant]

Looks pretty good Alex. I'd love photograph this species. Nice eye contact mouth full of food as well. I do wish the belly wasn't so dark.

[Bill Dix]

Congratulations Alex. As said, these are speeding bullets and tough to catch. To get one with a mouthful is a real coup. Head is nice and sharp, and colors look good. Except for the greenish belly which seems a bit odd. I've never been there, but is it possible he's reflecting green grass while flying over the top of a cliff?

[Steve Kaluski]

xcept for the greenish belly which seems a bit odd. I've never been there, but is it possible he's reflecting green grass while flying over the top of a cliff?

Great call Bill, a bit high for a reflection I think, but lets hear what Alex's thoughts are.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very nicely done. I like prey in the bill which make the image more interesting.

I like the eye contact which raises the image as well.

TFS

[gail bisson]

When I first saw this, it reminded of an image I posted last year. It is almost identical except my puffin was flying the other way!
Nice and sharp. Great to have the prey in the bill and my favorite part is the trailing feet.
It is unbelievably difficult to get these guys tack sharp in flight so congrats!
Gail

[Alex Becker]

Thanks all much appreciated --

Jon, this was I think the 13th, but very similar weather to the 11th, although I think this was slightly windier as there was that wind front coming through the next am.
Steve & Bill, you're spot on that there was a bit of grass under this puffin that gives the yellow / green color on the belly. I reduced it about 10% in post, but might go a bit further. Steve, this was on Inner Farnes, standing around where that picnic area is near the Ranger's cabins, there was a cliff that a lot of the puffins with sandeels would bank on in the wind to avoid the gulls, so even though the background is water they were probably only 5-10 feet away from the grassy patch on the cliffside.
Gail, so funny you say that as your shot is what made me want a shot like this so badly! It was just such a cool pose with as you say the feet trailing I wanted to give it a go to get a similar one.

Thanks again all,

[Glenn Pure]

A very fine image, Alex. I'm amazed these birds can get airborne at all - their wings look so small in comparison to their plump bodies. Hard to imagine doing a lot better than this shot: great head turn with bill full of prey and great background. Dorsal view is nice too. As per some of the other comments, I would tone down the green on the belly.