We spent an hour on the edge of a cliff trying for top shots of Swallow-tailed gulls in flight. This was my best. The image was created with the Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens (handheld) with the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops off the white sky: 1/1600 sec. at f/4.5 in Manual mode.
I painted a QM of the BKGR, ran a 40 pixel Gaussian blur on the mask, and erased the edges of the bird. Full frame. Central sensor AI Servo AF.
Don't be shy; all comments welcome.
ps: Punta Suarez on Hood Island, where we spent 6 1/2 hours, is right up there with Antarctica, East Africa, and Midway when it comes to ops for great nature photography.
pps: If there are any sweet, happy folks out there who would like to join me in July 2010, click here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...323#post304323