Inspired by Fabs' image of the other day. This from Elliston, Newfoundland. As some of you probably know, puffins frequently land at the spot where photographers and birdwatchers are located opposite the seastack in Elliston. Unfortunately, during about 12 hours over 2 days, only ONE puffin landed, and we had about 15 minutes to capture it.
Wondering what you think about the head angle of this one, after having looked at Artie's posts, and other comments, in Educational Resources. We have a good, almost parallel look, with good viz of eye and bill, bugt not sure if the bird is slightly turned away, and whether this is suboptimal.
Nikon D300, 600 mm f/4; f/16, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, with 1.7 TC, aperture priority
NB: background ocean already desatted a bit; thought about cloning out beak shadow, but left it.
I think this is a wonderful shot. Nicely exposed and sharp. I would not worry too much about the head angle -- I think that with his eye the way it is it make me wonder (in a good way) what he is looking at. What has his attention for the moment? IMHO we worry way too much about the "optimal" head angle whatever that is. As long as it tells the story you want... :)
Sub-optimal for me as the head is turned away. For this pose a good head angle requires that the head be at least parallel to the back of the camera. Once you have at least that there are lots of other good head angles for this pose but head angled away is not one of them... I like the little grasses. EXP is good. The crop is a bit tight.
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,
nice head shot,plenty of detail in the head,for me ,may lighten the eye a tad,not keen on plane blue BG,but this one works,I think because its dark.beauty is in the eye of the beholder.thanks.
Puffin portrait
Reply With Quote
