Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod, Canon 5D IV Canon 500mm F4 L IS II Auto ISO 3200 +1.0 EV 1/1600 sec f8
ACR + PSCC

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very nice Preening image. I do wish for better head position, to have the ever parallel to the frame.

I love the background colors. I think you can crop some space at top of the image.

TFS

[Walker Noe]

I agree less space on top, and I wish I could see the feet here. To me the image is underexposed and the bird appears to be shades of gray rather than black and white. Good detail and interesting pose.

[John Mack]

Very nice. Good pose and a great background. Rock perch is nice as well.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I agree less space on top, and I wish I could see the feet here. To me the image is underexposed and the bird appears to be shades of gray rather than black and white. Good detail and interesting pose.

Walker you are quite right the bird is not pure black and white.

[Isaac Grant]

I like the pose Jonathan and also that we get a different view of these birds other than the typical fish in beak or flight pose. But I think you really need to revisit the processing on this one. The whites are really gray and the blacks while they are not pure black are nowhere near this dull. The rock looks like it has almost no details on it either and oddly filmy. And the image is very dark. I am not sure if it is your monitor or what but the processing appears to be way off. Did a quick redo to get it somewhere back to what it should be to look like a puffin in low light.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Isaac thanks for taking the time but I couldn't disagree any more than I have previously. The rock I concede I muted deliberately because I did not wish to draw attention to it.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, a bit late here, nice preening behaviour and I like the fact you can still see that 'icon' of a bill, all set against that 'minty green' backdrop, it really pings. I also like the POV, being at eye level with the subject. Being overcast has muted the colours and helped the whites not to blow and so retain the finer detail that can often be lost in brighter conditions, although to a degree we were chasing the light most of the day, unlike lucky Alex B. Thanks for clarifying your thoughts on the rock and why you left it as is, I might have pulled more detail/structure from it, but retained again the muted colours, personal choice. I might be tempted to loose some content from the top, as per Krishna suggested. The only minor niggle is that darker OOF rock right on the bottom trim, I might just blend it in more.

A good day, thanks for your company.

TFS
Steve

[David Salem]

Nice preening pose and I really like the details you captured. The background is fantastic against this contrasty black-and-white bird.
I don't like to take sides on any issue but you and I have gone over the overall look of your images versus my images many times. You have always thought mine are a hair bright, and I have always thought yours are a hair dark. To be honest, and I always try to be, I believe yours are truly to dark overall. Not a bad thing but as the members here are often commenting on the beautiful images you post, they are also consistently commenting on them being a little dark. I don't think it's a monitor setting thing but more so how you see images in your own eye.
You and I couldn't be from more extremes when it comes to shooting conditions so it makes sense that our overall processing and mental view of how an image should look will differ too.
Just for fun and for a general test, try upping the brightness and contrast on your next post or two by about 10 to 20% and see what the group thinks. I think you'll be pretty surprised at the difference in your images as they are usually very nice to begin with and just need a few tweaks as shown with Isaacs repost.
P.S. I know these birds aren't pure white or black to begin with so I am not thinking that is the case either. Well done Johnathan.