Hi Everyone,
I recently visited the Farne Islands which are situated off the coast of Northumberland in NE England. What a great day out that was!! I managed to capture this puffin as it ricocheted off a bank straight towards me. I have to say that there was a lot of cursing and spitting going on around me amongst the assembled photographers - those puffins are FAST :o
1D 3 300 f/2.8 + 1.4
ISO 320
F4 1/6400
Exp comp @ + 1/3
Look forward to your C & C's as always.
Best regards to all,
Nicki
PS I just need to get this off my chest - this is my first successful puffin flight shot...:cool:
Nicki big congrats on your first! The only thing I might suggest is to bring down the brightness just a bit. The composition is wonderful and the sand eels are a big bonus!
Harold and Nancy, thanks so much for your very kind words. It was a thrill to get this image :)
Nancy, I take your point about the brightness - for some reason my images often look bright when I post them here, but they look just right when I print them...:confused:
Best,
Nicki
I really enjoy this image. Not sure why but it makes me smile. The head-on capture works well here. We can clearly see both eyes and the symmetry of the wings is very nice. The inclusion of the prey is a big plus. I also like the out-of-focus darker band/strip along the bottom of the frame. I sure your original file is fine but as presented I agree with Nancy that the image go a bit darker. Congratulations on a fine image.
Cool pose, good composition and I like that we see the sandeels so well. I agree with Phil that it is a bit light overall. Isn't it amazing how fast these guys fly?
Cool image Nicki and great timing. I always love these straight on captures. Lucky you to see these beautiful birds. :) Ditto Daniel's comment on the OOF grasses at the bottom. Beautiful work !!!
Thank you everyone for your very kind comments - much appreciated - and yes, I agree that this does look a little light:)
Axel, yes, they are incredibly fast...:D
Warm regards to all,
Nicki
Belatedly adding my thoughts - great image. Love the symmetry and sharpness. Looks a bit bright to me - I usually have the opposite problem where it looks perfect on my monitor but shows up dark when posted.:o
Very cool coming at you pose, with the high key signature of the house :)
Glad you had a nice time, we may get a hot at them pretty soon, hope the weather cooperates.
Miss you!
Lovely image and big congrats on the PIF...I had a chance at them a week ago in Alaska and you can bet there was a bit of "cursing" going on. Besides being very fast, the light was not very good so I will have to try again another day.:o
Fabs, Troy and Katie, thanks so much!
Fabs and Katie, I miss you both and often think of happy times...look forward to seeing PIF pics from both you girls :D
Hugs,
Nicki
First, Nicki, big congratulations on the successful first capture. Isn't that a great feeling ?
The puffin at this angle is more than beautiful. The muted light is just perfect, and presents the bird stunningly yet understated against the background.
I note the high shutter speed. Were you shooting AV mode? I'm trying to mentally process the ISO 320 with the high shutter speed; maybe it was much brighter out that day than appears.
The D3 is also my workhorse, thus the reason for the questions on technique. :)
Hi Loong-Tat and Bill and thank you very much for your very kind comments - yes Bill, I must admit that it was a great feeling to nail this one!! :)
As regards the high shutter speed, yes, I was in AV mode and I too was quite surprised to see such a high number. We were shooting at midday - necessarily, as you have no choice but to take the chartered boat trip, despite my best efforts to find a boatman that I could bribe to get us onto the island in the early morning...:( The light was extremely bright, but coming and going if you see what I mean, so I was loathe to lower the ISO any more. Actually, I did struggle with my exposure at first in those lighting conditions, and the other point was that I really felt that I needed all the shutter speed that I could get, as we were fairly close to the birds and had only a split second to react as they took off towards us. Now maybe if I had quicker reactions...
Any suggestions most gratefully received!
Best,
Nicki
Aside from the BLUE cast, this is spectacular and amazing. And with the MIII yet!
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