Black Skimmer

[Nate Chappell]

Hi everyone,
Here's a Black Skimmer that I photographed from the boardwalk on Mustang Island, Texas last summer. Cropped a little bit on the left and top for comp. I cloned out a small ripple in the water.
MkIII 500F4 1/5000 F5.6 iso 640, evaluative metering at 0.

[Randy Stout]

Nate:

Very nice. I love the track in the water on the diagonal. I might try lightening it just a smidge to bring up the whites, and maybe bring out a bit of detail in blacks.

A real keeper.

Randy

[Dave Mills]

Nate...You nailed it!! Beautiful light,nice wing position,reflection and as Randy stated about the track in the water. The water droplets subtly add to the image also. Well done!!

[John Chardine]

This reminds me of Frederick Kent Truslow's famous image of the this species. Well done Nate! I like the crop and the reflection is great. Water drops are a bonus. The only thing I would suggest is brightening up the image a little with Levels or Curves.

[Lorant Voros]

Great timing on the capture. Beautiful reflection and good sharpness, nice crop too. I agree with brightening it up; it is pretty dark on my screen. Congratulations for this fantastic capture.

[Nate Chappell]

Thanks for the comments, I've edited it and posted a lighter version.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool pose, angle, details and reflection. It would have been interesting to compare the original and repost.

[Steve Maxson]

Beautiful, Nate. I've been dreaming about an image like this for years - no luck. The first post seemed to have a fair amount of noise in the water - this version looks a lot better.

[Randy Stout]

Nate:

I think the brightening of the image helped it all around, esp. the water drops really pop. This is a a fine one. Please print it big!

Cheers

Randy

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice flight post, the line on the water adds to it. Also wish to see the original to compare.

[Maxis Gamez]

This is very nice. I would remove some of the noise.

[Roger Clark]

Nate,
Very impressive image. I would select the eye region and lighten just a little.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Lovely image, great action, nice eye contact, stunning moment! I would suggest a slight saturation of the background and a bit of selective noise reduction on the water

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Your timing was perfect Nate and the line really makes it for me. Beautiful lighting and superb eye contact. Congratulations !!!

[allanrube]

I like it a lot. I agree the water adds to the action; the reflection is just right. I would not lighten up the eye region. The only thing I might try is to darken the water.

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi everyone,
Here's a Black Skimmer that I photographed from the boardwalk on Mustang Island, Texas last summer. Cropped a little bit on the left and top for comp. I cloned out a small ripple in the water.
MkIII 500F4 1/5000 F5.6 iso 640, evaluative metering at 0.

Awesome Nate., superb action shot.

[Doug Brown]

All you could ask for in a Skimmer photo! Nicely done!

[Juan Aragonés]

Superb job with this guy Nate!