Puffin portrait

[Keith Carver]

Machias Seal Island 7-26-10

Still in the photographers blind, but by this time we had some cloud cover and nice diffuse light. After my post of yesterday (puffin-with-krill) with harsh uneven light, I really appreciate diffuse lighting for this one. :D

Techs: 1DM3, 500 mm, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/2000 sec

Post: smart sharpen on bird 130 / 0.3

C&C appreciated.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Now that is the kind of light you can only hope for. Sharpness, eye contact and head angle look very good. I might put the bird a bit further to the left in the frame, give it a tad more room at the top and remove the jpg artifacts in the BG.

[stuart wanuck]

absolutely worth it good capture

[Keith Carver]

... and remove the jpg artifacts in the BG.

Thanks, Axel, I ran NR on BG in the repost. Decided I like the top room as is.

[Caroline Darmo]

Hi Keith, this has soft diffused light, good head angle and sharp. Very nice.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice pose and perch, niece BG. Was the original underexposed? dark feathers and eye look a bit noisy for such low ISO. TFS

[Arthur Morris]

I like the framing and the light and the fact that this image is pretty much perfect.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Keith, fabulous light and lovely pose here. I might take a slice off the LHS, but otherwise I love this as presented.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Keith, repost is a huge improvement....brings out the beauty in the BG. The light is pretty much perfect. So is the angle of the bird. Thx for sharing this one.

[Jory Griesman]

Much better light than the last one. Great feather detail in blacks and whites, good head angle, and like the sharpness from head to toe, and nice perch. Would take a bit off our right (bird's left).

[stuart wanuck]

love your image.can you fill me in on detils for that location for puffin photography thsnks

[Keith Carver]

love your image.can you fill me in on detils for that location for puffin photography thsnks

Stuart, these were taken at Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick. I took a boat with Capt. Andy Patterson out of Cutler, Maine, about a 45-minute trip. You can google it. I was very impressed with his operation from beginning to end. All photography on the island has to be done from inside the photographers blinds, but they are well positioned to get you very close to the puffins, razorbills, and murres. You arrive at the island about 8 a.m. and can shoot for about three hours. Overcast or partly cloudy days are better than sunny ones. If the seas are rough, you cannot land on the island, so maybe scheduling two days will give you better odds of getting on the island. Send me a PM if you need more details.

[Fabs Forns]

Love the repost, and the light was really with you that day :)

[Kiran Poonacha]

Sure the repost works better, loved the details and colours here...