Gannet head on

[Richard Peters]

Hi all, my first post on the forum and also my first ever gannet photo, taken last week on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. It was a very wet week with only two out of seven days giving us any decent shooting conditions (I also wrote an article about the week on my blog, HERE) so I was pleased to get this.

D300 with 600 + 1.4x TC



Looking forward to being an active member of the forum :)

[Fabs Forns]

Hi Richard, red carpet welcome to BPN, I hope you can feel right at home here :)

Nice head on fight, sharp and well exposed. The belly could go lighter and you could accentuate the diagonal of the flight by rotating the canvas slightly, if it's something you do.

Aren't they amazing birds?

It wold help if you include the images techs, f stop, s/s and ISO and any compensation used.

[Richard Peters]

Thanks for the welcome :)

Not sure about rotating the canvas as the Gannets head wouldn't be straight then and the eye contact wouldn't work as well.

Oops!! Forgot the exif, sorry! 1/1600, f7.1 ISO 200 :)

[Fabs Forns]

Not sure about rotating the canvas as the Gannets head wouldn't be straight then and the eye contact wouldn't work as well.

I don't think it would affect the eye contact, but it is your picture, so you rule :)

[Richard Peters]

I might have a play with it just to satisfy my curiosity but I can't help but think that the natural form of the bird, banking whilst keeping it's head straight, would not work as well with a rotation of the image - I am going have a look though, as you never know :D

Some superb images on your website btw!!

[Fabs Forns]

You have a strong point. Maybe just a little :)

Thanks for your kind words.

[Steve Maxson]

Welcome Richard. This is a very nice first post - hope to see a lot more! Good sharpness and exposure though I agree with Fabs that you might try to lighten the belly. I think a pano crop might also work well with this subject and would further emphasize the side-to-side spread of the wings.

[Stu Bowie]

Welcome Richard. Super headon shot, with great eye contact. The flight angle looks fine to me. I would maybe take a bit off the top. Taking some off the bottom wouldnt harm this either. Looking forward to more from you.