Brown Skua

[John Chardine]

The simplicity of this image caught my eye so I thought I would process and post. It's of a Brown Skua at Deception Island, Antarctica (note the lava on which the bird is sitting; Deception is an active volcano). The bird is roosting near a melt-water bathing pond they use behind the derelict whaling station.

I cropped and dodged/burned the BG a little to even out. Also ran some NR on the BG and sharpened subject.

Comments welcome!

Canon EOS 50D, 70-200 f4 IS @ 200 mm
capture date: 7 December 2009, 7:28 PM
exposure program: Aperture Priority
ISO speed: 400
shutter speed: 1/100
aperture: f5.6
exposure bias: +0.3
metering: Pattern
flash: OFF

[Randy Stout]

John:

Sharp, well exposed, nice feather detail, angle in frame. Looks very desolate. The sky is so bright/stark that it can be overpowering. I might either try a very small crop down to reduce its size in the image, or perhaps a curves adjustment(pull down the curve), fill layer with black, and then paint in the lowered luminosity to sky, to your taste. Just an option.

Cheers

Randy

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Amazing that these birds don't mind people to be this close. I like the angle, sharpness and might give it a bit more room at the bottom and crop some off the top.

[John Chardine]

Axel- I crept up to the bird on my hands and knees and remained more than 5m/15' away, quiet and low, as per the IAATO regs for Antarctic wildlife. The bird didn't even look at me. The reason is straightforward- there are no natural ground predators in Antarctica (or the Galapagos for that matter) such as racoons, mongooses, cats, foxes etc, and the wildlife has not evolved anti-predator responses as a result. You are not perceived to be a predator and therefore not a threat.

[John Chardine]

John:

Sharp, well exposed, nice feather detail, angle in frame. Looks very desolate. The sky is so bright/stark that it can be overpowering. I might either try a very small crop down to reduce its size in the image, or perhaps a curves adjustment(pull down the curve), fill layer with black, and then paint in the lowered luminosity to sky, to your taste. Just an option.

Cheers

Randy

Thanks Randy. The white in the BG is the bottom end of an ice field and it was almost blown in the exposure. I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish your edit but I'll give it a try for learning purposes.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks Randy. The white in the BG is the bottom end of an ice field and it was almost blown in the exposure. I'm not exactly sure how to accomplish your edit but I'll give it a try for learning purposes.

If you just crop the bright area and add a bit at the bottom, it might look good as semi-pano.

[Stu Bowie]

John, the feather detail in this is simply amazing, and well done on achieving such sharpness at such a low ss. I guess with so much lava around, we wont be seeing a colourful BG, but this works just fine.

[John Chardine]

Thanks Stuart. You know I hadn't noticed the 1/100s till you mentioned it! I guess the technique is getting better. I have to say though that the 70-200/4 IS is a remarkable lens- really a prime in the form of a zoom.