Over the last 6 weeks I've spent a lot of time making birds in flight images. I find these the most challenging- a fast flying petrel in gusting winds from a moving ship. Keeper rates are low but getting better! I would watch how birds were flying and interacting with the ship, then try to pick up a bird quite far away that had a good chance of getting close, using the standard flight patterns I had observed.
Standard exposure MO for BIF- manual, expose to the right with no blown whites. I clipped one wing of this Antarctic Petrel, in camera, so made a portrait crop. Let me know if it works.
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200/4 IS x 1.4 tcII @ 263 mm
capture date: Friday, 11 December 2009
exposure program: Manual
ISO speed: 400
shutter speed: 1/2000
aperture: f6.3
exposure bias: +0.0
metering: Pattern
flash: OFF
The keeper rate at pelagic trip really is much lower than usual. I like the exposure control and eye contact here and might crop just a tad off the top to make it look like the bottom. Maybe a bit more contrast and sharpening?
Hey John - welcome back! I am sure this will just be the first of many great images from down below. I love the angles that the wings create. The colors are fairly soft and increasing contrast may help to make the bird stand out a bit more. By clipping the other wing I think the image balances nicely and works for me.
Loved the compo here, nice details on the face, is the water reflection throwing light on the face???, it makes this work very well... I like it Bhai..
John...welcome back...I like it as presented...pretty good DOF for 6.3, agree with a little more S & H
I'd love to try and redo the image, cloning in clipped wing but thats just me
Thanks everyone. I'll try the suggestions. Not sure how I'll approach some extra sharpening because I have some noise to contend with. May try just around eye and other sharp detail. The light probably comes from a combination of the water and the white paint on the ship!
It really works for me John. The diagonal composition is really nice and I love the intense eye contact. the imae looks a bit flat to me so I would boost the contrast just a bit
Antarctic Petrel
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