Nest Building

[Ed Schneider]

Atlantic Puffin - Elliston, Newfoundland, Ca

D300
AF-S (I) Nikkor 500 f/4
Wimberly II
Gitzo 3530LS

1/320th @ f/10
ISO 320
-1/3 EV

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very nice Ed. The nesting material is a great bonus - sure is different than seeing a bunch of sand eels. I'd crop some at right, but all else looks good to me.

[John Chardine]

Super Ed. Very sharp, great colour and detail and the picture tells a story. I know the Elliston colony. Did you take from shore?

[Aidan Briggs]

Nice pose, light, and exposure. I agree with Daniel on the crop. I might also lighten up the face a tad.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the head angle, soft light and nesting material. I could also see this as a vertical crop or alternatively crop some off the left to get the bird out of the center. I might darken the black plumage.

[Ed Schneider]

Thanks, guys:)

Daniel - I had cropped this vertically @ first, but it just didn't work. I think you're right about the crop idea, but I wanted to leave a little space for btwn the birds shoulder and the edge.

John - what a great place!!! We were shooting as far out on the peninsula as we could safely (@ the birds on the island "sea stack") when a few started to land right next to us! There are @ least three burrows on the east side of the peninsula right now, and we had some very up close and personal views. Humpbacks and orca(!) were feeding about a quarter mile out, but I only saw a few puffin carrying capelin.

We went on a tour @ Witless Bay (out of Mobile), and handholding the 500 in the boat almost put me in the hospital! Great rookeries there as well, but tough shooting w/ fog and choppy seas. I love Newfoundland :)

[Jory Griesman]

Agree with above. Nice head and eye position, sharpness, and background. I've rarely seen a nest building shot - it's usually a beak (?bill) full of fish. Great detail in the blacks, but I'd prefer a darker/deeper black. This may, however, be the black he/she was born with! Not sure if whites blown on upper breast. Great shot of my favourite bird.

[Mike Milicia]

Gorgeous portrait!
Love the light and the detail in this one ... tack sharp but still looks downy soft ... a great combination!
Excellent DOF as well and the nesting material puts it over the top.

I'll add a third crop opinion and that would be to add more room on the left.
Agree that blacks could go a bit darker.

I've been to Elliston but could not even get close to a full frame image with stacked converters.
Was this guy on the land side?

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Wonderful image with the nesting material especially. I was thinking vertical crop too, but am not sure as I kind of like it this way. I wonder if lightening the eye would be a good thing.
THanks for sharing.

[Ed Schneider]

Thanks, all. This is the original color black, and the eye is original as well. I can see where darkening the blacks and brightening the eye might make it pop a little more though. And the upper breast is very near blown, yes :(

Mike - yes, these birds were building up their burrows on the "land" side of the peninsula... I had to crawl backwards to get far enough away to focus :)

[Erich Stevens]

Ed,

Amazing detail and sharpness in your original post, particularly the eye. Great work!

[denise ippolito]

Ed, Really sweet images and I think your portrait image is fantastic! The nesting material is a great bonus! I think the eye looks natural. Well done.

[Harshad Barve]

Fantastic image , loved the looks , sharpness, BG. Nesting material adds so much
TFS

[Dominic Cantin]

The details are stunning :eek: You succeeded on the exposure where the blacks and whites are not easy ! Thanks for the view !

Dom :)

[Milan V]

Very nice pose and dof. Maybe a tiny crop on the right that bird start in the corner?

[Kiran Poonacha]

Such a Beauty Ed, loved the feel in this, the details look great and the nesting meterial adds very well here... congrats...

[Mital Patel]

just three words.
You nailed it.

[Charlie VanTassel]

Just excellent. The lighting really makes this one a winner.