Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: A pair of Razorbills

  1. #1
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    292
    Threads
    38
    Thank You Posts

    Default A pair of Razorbills

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    A first shot from a recent trip to the Swedish archipelago with the goal to get some decent shots of auks and seabirds. These birds are so cool to observe close up, they really are the penguins of the north with those tiny wings adapted for a life in the water.
    Let me know what you think. The greyish blop between the birds and the other circles in the BG are oof birds. I thought it gave the image some character so I kept it for now.

    Canon 5D Mark IV | Canon 500mm f/4.0L IS USM II | ISO 540 | f/7.0 | 1/3200s

  2. #2
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    2,975
    Threads
    322
    Thank You Posts
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Lovely interaction Ivan and a treat to see the yellow inside of their mouths, unfortunately the whites are over exposed and not sure you can recover any detail, but if you can, you have a winner. I would also suggest toning down the brightness on the rock. Very tough to expose in bright light...

  3. #3
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec
    Posts
    216
    Threads
    83
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I wish I could photograph these birds! Composition, head angle and sharpness all spot on. In Québec the name for these guys in French literally translates to "little penguin". The rock details with the moss/lichen (?) are a nice touch, though I would agree with Ann that you could probably tone them down a bit. I do see detail in the whites but I would play with shadow/highlight and selective colour to try to bring out as much of the fine feather texture as possible, and also try to clone out the specular highlight between the two birds' heads (but sometimes that's easier said than done). Thanks for giving us a look!

  4. #4
    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Manchester, England
    Posts
    3,251
    Threads
    314
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ivan, the shot itself is lovely, 2 nice poses, a good eye level POV, none of the feet are covered which is nice. As Ann points out though, it could do with having the whites lowered, as they just present as too bright. I don't think they are burned, maybe they look OK on your monitor, butI pulled out more detail just by doing a luminosity adjustment on the whites then adding a few points of black in 'selective colour'. Doing it on the RAW would be much better

    Name:  Tordmule-BPN-RP.jpg
Views: 153
Size:  581.6 KB

    Mike

  5. Thanks Ivan Sjogren thanked for this post
  6. #5
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    12,487
    Threads
    1,892
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Terrific interaction between the birds; love the open beaks. Dark tones seem well exposed, which allows the eyes to show -- very tough with this species. I agree with all the comments above. The repost is a big help.

  7. #6
    Lifetime Member Colin Driscoll's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Lake Macquarie, Australia
    Posts
    2,343
    Threads
    431
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Striking birds and generally well shot, allowing for the previous critiques. The crop is a little uncomfortable for me, maybe a bit more space on the right to take them off center?

  8. #7
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    2,975
    Threads
    322
    Thank You Posts
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Poole View Post
    Ivan, the shot itself is lovely, 2 nice poses, a good eye level POV, none of the feet are covered which is nice. As Ann points out though, it could do with having the whites lowered, as they just present as too bright. I don't think they are burned, maybe they look OK on your monitor, butI pulled out more detail just by doing a luminosity adjustment on the whites then adding a few points of black in 'selective colour'. Doing it on the RAW would be much better

    Name:  Tordmule-BPN-RP.jpg
Views: 153
Size:  581.6 KB

    Mike
    Nice work Mike, certainly an improvement! I love their interaction.

  9. #8
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Ithaca, NY
    Posts
    10,421
    Threads
    1,708
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Overall a very nice image of this two razorbills. The poses on both birds are right on. Nice blue water background as well. Agree with the others on the detail.

  10. #9
    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    26,311
    Threads
    3,979
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Yes, Mike's repost has addressed the brightness issue quite well. Perfect face-to-face poses, and the BG blues are quite appealing. Personally I would remove the oof white circles, but everything else checks my boxes!

  11. #10
    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Indian Lake Estates, FL
    Posts
    32,557
    Threads
    1,438
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Good on the improved WHITEs. I'd lose the circles in a heartbeat ...

    with love, artie
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










  12. #11
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    292
    Threads
    38
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thank you very much for the repost Mike and thnk you everyone else for your suggestions. I agree that the whites were hot in the original post but I was able to bring quite alot of detail when I went back to the RAW.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics