Ireland's Largest Sea Bird - Gannet (Morus bassanus)

[Michael Hogan]

Took a trip to the Great Saltee Island off the Wexford coast on Tuesday last. Glorius day but a bit bright for photography. There is a Gannet colony at the tip of the island. This is quite a big crop. Only other PP is sharpening. Thought the tight portrait was the best for this shot - head bent. Light could have been better though.

40D, 500mm, 1/2000 @ f4.0, AP, ISO 100

Thanks

Michael

[Lance Peters]

Hi Michael - one of my FAV birds - love the gannets.
Like the tight crop and the pose - agree with your comment about the light - would have been better if the entire face was illuminated rather than being in shadow.
A little too sharp maybe - fine detail looks a little sculptured - some might say remove the feathers from the beak -ID leave em, yet to see one that doesnt have.

Keep em coming :)

[Dave Mills]

Hi Michael, Nice pose and agree with Lance regarding the light. I like the feathers on the beak...

[Troy Lim]

I like the shot, can always try for better light.

[Don Richardson]

Lovely shot of a beautiful bird. As perfect a pose as this is, I'd remove the feathers on the beak as they'er just to distracting. That's just me and on this shot only though.

[Meesh Fink]

Subtle shading of peach on the bird is so pretty... I like the comp & exposure.

[David Thomasson]

You could play around with that light and get more out of this nice portrait.

[Harold Davis]

i really like the compo, and david worked out those shadow issues nicely. i was going to suggest some flash fill for this one, but you would have had to stop down quite a bit to get your shutter speed slow enough for it to work out and i'm not sure what the bg was. it might have worked!!

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful bird, nicely composed. Like the tight crop and the exposure. Agree the light's not ideal -- David's repost helps to brighten the eye, but doesn't do anything for the hard shadow line. Might be worth trying to soften the line just a bit (or go back in better light;))

[David Thomasson]

David's repost helps to brighten the eye, but doesn't do anything for the hard shadow line. Might be worth trying to soften the line just a bit (or go back in better light;))

When I was first playing with this, I sort of liked the shadow and left it alone. But here's a version with
the shadow softened. I'm still not sure whether, if it were my image, I would do the shadow or not. :confused:

[Bill Dix]

When I was first playing with this, I sort of liked the shadow and left it alone. But here's a version with
the shadow softened. I'm still not sure whether, if it were my image, I would do the shadow or not. :confused:

I personally like this one better. (Nice job, btw.) Matter of preference, I guess.

[Michael Hogan]

I've been away for a few days and have not had a chance to look at the reposts - I really like the last one Bill. How did you soften the shadows?

Michael