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Thread: Swallow-tailed Gull (Larus furcatus)

  1. #1
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Default Swallow-tailed Gull (Larus furcatus)

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    D90; 80-400 VR @ 370mm. ISO 400. f/8 @ 1/3200s. Matrix metering @ -1.0 EV. HH.

    Shot from atop a cliff on South Plaza Island, Galapagos two weeks ago. Birds were nesting and rearing their chicks in the seacliff below me. Swallow-tailed Gull is endemic to the Galapagos, aside from a few breeding pairs on an island off Colombia. The world's only nocturnal, truly oceanic gull according to my book. Cropped to vertical and added canvas on top to accommodate repair of a clipped wing. Otherwise minimal PP. C&C appreciated.

  2. #2
    Robert O'Toole
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    Hi Bill,

    Just beautiful, top view banks are one of my favs and this gull is just great. Would like to have the opportunity to photograph these guys some day.

    Everything looks spot on to me, exp and PP look great on my comp.

    Good work, thanks for posting.

    Robert

  3. #3
    Axel Hildebrandt
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    Great pose and the wing repair is well done. Light and eye contact look good, too. I don't know how you selected the bird but before applying NR but there are some artifacts around the edges of the bird.

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    Excellent, looks good like the sharpness and wing positions
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    Beautiful shot. Great angle you got there. loved that BG. along with the sharpness and exposure. Well done Bill.

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    Bill, Very nice wing repair. I love the pose and the details. That is one awesome looking Gull! Congrats!!:)

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    Beautiful pose showing the complete wings spanned back and great eye contact. Fantastic.
    Lorant

  8. #8
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Thank you all for the kind comments. This was an awesome place to photograph these birds, and many other species. I'll post some more in the coming days.

    Axel, I can't see the artifacts that you are seeing, but my monitor is not the sharpest in the world. Since PS Elements doesn't have quickmasks, I use the quick selection tool to select the bird, fine-tuning the edges of the selection with a very small brush, and then feather to around 2px before inverting for NR. I just switched from Topaz Denoise 3.0 to the newer 4.0. I couldn't say what might be causing the artifacts.

  9. #9
    Alfred Forns
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    Hi Bill Mighty fine image and sure looks good from my end ! The bird is so captivating I can't get to look at much else !! Big Congrats !!!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quite loverly. Who did you go with? How many days? I am leading a two week trip this summer. Can't wait. It will be my 7th. Have not been to South Plaza in ages but with the two week trip we will visit every great photo location.
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  11. #11
    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Thank you Artie. My wife and I were on a 16-guest motor catamaran called Archipell, which we booked through AdventureSmith Explorations. We were on the boat for 8 days. Unfortunately, it was not a photo expedition, so we were at the mercy of the time schedule imposed by the naturalist-guide who sometimes had other interests (spent a lot of time looking at various lava formations). Nonetheless, it was a fantastic trip with lots of great photo opportunities. South Plaza, North Seymour and Espanola were among the best we visited, but we did not go to Genovesa, which may surpass those three in photo-ops. I'm sure you will have a great trip; wish I could go with you.

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    Very, very nice, Bill. I like how it pops from the background and of course the angle of view.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dix View Post
    Thank you Artie. My wife and I were on a 16-guest motor catamaran called Archipell, which we booked through AdventureSmith Explorations. We were on the boat for 8 days. Unfortunately, it was not a photo expedition, so we were at the mercy of the time schedule imposed by the naturalist-guide who sometimes had other interests (spent a lot of time looking at various lava formations). Nonetheless, it was a fantastic trip with lots of great photo opportunities. South Plaza, North Seymour and Espanola were among the best we visited, but we did not go to Genovesa, which may surpass those three in photo-ops. I'm sure you will have a great trip; wish I could go with you.
    Thanks Bill, I urge all photographers to join a photography cruise rather than a tourist cruise. Since I have the very best guide in the Galapagos, about 1/4 of the folks that travel with me are non-photographer spouses. Juan is that good :) In addition, all of my trips (one each year) are 2 week cruises so that we get to visit every great spot. Denise Ippolito will be on this July's trip. My July 2011 trip has a waiting list already :) Folks who might be interested in the 2012 trip should shoot me an e-mail to have their names put on the interested list.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

    BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.

    Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,

    E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.










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