Howdy from the Middle of Nowhere! Midway #1

[Arthur Morris]

What can I say? Midway is insane. It ranks right up there with the world's greatest wildlife and bird photography specatacles. I will be here for 13 more days and will post as time allows. I doubt that I will be able to create an image that conveys the sheer numbers of birds that are breeding here: right now at least 3/4 million Laysan Albatross in total including adults, non-breeders, and chicks. But more than a million is probably a better estimate.

The faces of the adult Laysan's are beyond beautiful. I created this image with the handheld 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens (at 200mm) with the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evalautive metering +1/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3. (I did not want to bring up the BKR detail; should have lowered the ISO :)) Fill flash at -1 stop.

I made this one on a bathroom break during our morning-long NWR introductory program.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Jay Gould]

It is "beyond beautiful"! What was the background?

Another place to add to the bucket list!! :D

TFS

[Ilija Dukovski]

Man, that is a bird perfect to be photographed.
Black mask, white body and beautiful silky bill.
So this is what your bathroom break snapshots look like :)
Great image, I guess over there you are free to walk
at will, unlike the Galapagos?
Waiting for more spectacular images!

[Marina Scarr]

Great image, Artie. Great exposure on the whites and blacks. If you had good light, could you please explain why you choose to use fill flash? This image alone is enough reason to include Midway on my wish list.

[Arthur Morris]

Great image, Artie. Great exposure on the whites and blacks. If you had good light, could you please explain why you choose to use fill flash? This image alone is enough reason to include Midway on my wish list.

The image was created in bright sun after 10am. In those conditions, I love to use flash at -1 to open up the shadows and reduce contrast. Doubly so for a bird with a black mask and deeply set eyes. I hope to return next year for the White Tern chicks. :)

[Arthur Morris]

Jay, the BKGR was just local vegetation about two feet behind the bird.

[Myer Bornstein]

Great picture Now we all want to go there :D

[Grace Scalzo]

What a cool looking bird, so nicely photographed, too. Looking forward to more !

[Jim Fenton]

Artie...

Beautiful overall but one thing takes away from it IMHO...the fact that the end of the bill isn't sharp on the top half.

For whatever reason, that catches my eye quickly.

Also.....is it possible to lighten the eye at all or is it correctly showing what was?

[Markus Jais]

Great portrait. I like the open bill, the light in the eye and the head angle.
Your description of that place sounds wonderful.
I read about that place is a book called "Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival " by Carl Safina. Highly recommend reading.

Markus

[Rich Steel]

Hi Artie

Sounds like an amazing place, what an experience! That is a beautiful bird and very well exposed with the flash under the bright light. The tip of the top bill looks like you were starting to lose some DOF but great result for a bathroom break. Looking forward to seeing plenty more from your travels.

Cheers

Rich

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, Excellent shot all around. Since the BG was so close, I can see why you did not stop down further to get the bill tip sharp. Excellent flash work as usual.

[denise ippolito]

Artie, Fantastic details and exposure. Thanks for the tip on the use of fill flash. :) I love the open mouth-it looks like it's smiling!

[Paul Lagasi]

One of the last Albatross, I need to see..jealous...Image is lovely, perfectly exposed..enjoy

[Arthur Morris]

The eye has already been lightened and the pupil darkened. :) I can live very nicely with the bill tip less than razor sharp much better than I could live with the vegetation sharp and distracting; that was my choice. :)

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely looking image and it looks like the bird was happy to see you as well.
I really like the sharpness and still a very nice soft feel tothe bird.

Dave

[Aidan Briggs]

Hey Artie, I love the open bill, perfect exposure, and sharpness. I like the BG, but I think it could be better. I might take a tad off the left but that is a personal preference.

[Mike Tracy]

Agree with all the above positive comments. I really like the gray patch and the black spot around his eye. If the piece of grass in his mouth was longer and dangling it would add a element of interest. As is since it is so small I would I would probably eliminate it.

[Harshad Barve]

exposure , pose by bird and fine details works very well Guruji , I cant imagine shooting birds with 70-200
TFS

[Jory Griesman]

Beautiful image. Hope to hear about Midway in your blog. Hope you're wearing a big hat, with a million birds flying about.

[Mark Young]

Love that you captured the open bill.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Agree about this bird being a handsome one. Love the beak, it looks so perfect.

[Sid Garige]

Excellent details and techs Artie. Fantastic job.

[Brian E. Small]

Lovely image Artie...............please say "hi" to cousin Joe for me! ;)

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely image Artie...............please say "hi" to cousin Joe for me! ;)

Joe and I and the rest of the gang are having too, too much fun. Today the two of us were photographing Red-billed Tropicbirds side by side.

[Rod Warnock]

Captured the detail so well and the graduation spot on. A pleasure to view.
Best regards
Rod Warnock