Fulmar

[Alex Becker]

Hi all,

A fulmar taken at Bempton Cliffs on an overcast day. In post, NR, sharpened, cropped ~25% or so.

Camera: Nikon D500
Lens: 300 f/4 PF
Specs: 1/2500 ISO 1600 f/4

Thanks for looking and commenting on prior posts!
Alex

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very Nice post and wing position. I have never seen this bird to know the colors of the same.

TFS

[Walker Noe]

Nice pose and detail here Alex. BG looks good, this is a real keeper. I think it could benefit from a tiny exposure and contrast boost. TFS

[John Mack]

Love these dorsal view shots. Nice detail on the bird with a good background.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Beautiful dorsal flight capture, Alex. Like the soft light and excellent detail throughout. Lovely background as well.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Isaac Grant]

Nice view of this Fulmar. Sharp with good details as well. I really like the water color. On my screen the water is noisy and the bird looks like it has a film over it. It is not as clear and crisp as it should be. There seems to be a problem with many on the site with processing photos of birds in low light situations such as this. In low light birds are still crisp and sharp, just not as well lit. Fulmars are highly variable so not sure of the exact color of the bird (if it is off that is an easy fix), but the bird as presented looks thin to me and like it has a film over it. Did a quick redo with a few global levels and contrast adjustments. Ran NR on background as well and used a layer of Detail extractor (10%) and procontrast (50%).

[Bill Dix]

Good looking flight shot, Alex. Nice and sharp. OP looked fine to me until I saw Isaac's repost, that brought it up a notch.

[Alex Becker]

OP looked fine to me until I saw Isaac's repost, that brought it up a notch.

You and me both Bill . Isaac, thanks a lot, you're certainly right about these low light shots and I appreciate you taking the time. I did the about 25% blended auto tone as well as some minor adjustments and a bit of DE. I may tweak it a bit further as well regarding contrast. I see some posterization on this RP that isn't there on the tif. Thanks again all, much appreciated,

[Isaac Grant]

Looks much better Alex. Each shot is different and requires varying amounts of levels, blacks or tone adjustments. Sometimes you'll need more than others. Agree re posterization. Once you mess with a downsized file you are doomed. But when you work like you did on the full res you will be fine. I am often shocked at how much you have to push these types of files to have a sharp and 3 dimensional looking photo in those lighting conditions. You've done very well on this one. Minor tweaks takes it over the top. And if people have the budget for it I can't recommend highly enough the importance of a high quality monitor to your workflow. Something like the 32" NEC or even a 5k iMac like I have are excellent and go a long way towards producing excellent final products. It is not something that should be overlooked. We spend thousands or tens of thousands on gear but most skimp on their monitor.

[David Salem]

Beautiful top side view of this cool looking seabird. Love the feather details on the near wing. Isaac's repost is right on the money and his information about bringing back low light images is critical in making lemonade from lemons. Big difference. The main problem with this images there's no direct eye contact. If there would've been, this would've been over-the-top. Keep shooting looks great.

[William Dickson]

Well done Alex, you captured a lovely flight pose here. Great detail on the bird. BG sets the scene perfectly. I love photographing these beautiful birds..Good work

Will