Ready to Rumble...

[Arthur Morris]

I was back at Bonaventure (Perce, Quebec, Canada) with Chris Dodds and a group last week. The place is insane. And the gannets are quite feisty, always ready to squawk at a neighbor.

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens with the 1.4X II TC handheld with the EOS-1D MII. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/8.

The dark shape above the bill are the tips of the primary feathers of the left wing; I considered getting rid of them but they are what they are.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Aristotle Georgiou]

Excellent portrait Arthur, love the composition, excellent detail in the head, sharp and nice action.

[Doug Brown]

Love the pose Artie! Exposure and sharpness are excellent. If it were my photo, I'd probably remove the feather tips because they so closely parallel the bill.

[Keith Carver]

This one just leaps out of my monitor screen! Exposure is simply perfect: a large tonal range in both darks (mouth and lores) AND in the white feathers. Wow. Love it.

[JP Bruce]

Love the head - beautiful capture. But something about the body bothers me. Mainly by the top beak. My attention just keeps going there. The black feathers don't bother me. Just personal feeling.

[Raymond Barlow]

cool shot Artie, with a nice look... I would be inclined to clone out the feathers above the beak.

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Arthur,
I like the BG colors and the pose, colors, and detail of the bird. The BG feathers are just to close to the bill for my taste and really keep pulling my eye.
Steve

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool pose, light, details and BG. The open bill puts it over the top for me. I probably would have removed the wing tip.

[Markus Jais]

wonderful portrait. perfect exposure. I like the composition and the open bill which makes this one special.

I probably would try to clone out the feathers above the bill.

Markus

[Mike Lentz]

Decent image, you've had better images of them recently however. Not crazy about the beak and face merging with the backside of the bird.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Great pose,eye contact and details!!!

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Arthur,
Great background color, beautiful exposure.The "Beak" strengthens this image for me...it has a steel quality that brings power and intimidation to the display.

[Arthur Morris]

By popular demand. Used the protect and defend cloning method as described in Digital Basics.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The repost makes quite a difference!

[Kirk Benson]

Beautiful shot Artie, great detail and exposure (as always) for a very expressive moment. The repost is much better to my eye. Thanks for always teaching us.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW Kirk and thank you both.