Kittiwakes on Ice

[Rachel Hollander]

Haven't posted in ETL in a while but was going back through my Alaska photos. Taken in Prince William Sound, Alaska in waning light.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/1000
f5.6
ISO 400
HH from a moving boat. Cropped, highlights and contrast adjustment. The color of the water is due to glacial run-off.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the floating ice cube which adds to the environment in this shot and I also like your choice of pano crop too. The color of glacial run off is interesting, TFS. I kind of see dark halos around the birds and wishes they were facing toward you.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks for the comments. Where are you seeing the halos because I don't see them even when pixel peeping at 100%?

Thanks,
Rachel

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

I see the halo in front of the right most bird's chest, kind of blackish aura. I tend to see halos more on my MAC at home and the PC at work, hmmmmm.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks, I'm curious if anyone else sees it because I still don't. :confused:

[Julie Kenward]

Rachel, what a lovely image. There's something almost surreal about it and I'm betting it's the quality of light from being in Alaska. The birds almost pop right off the BG.

I do see a very slight dark area also but I had to enlarge it in order to see it. It's maybe 1-2 pixels in width so it's pretty minor.

I'd enlarge the image to 100% and clone out any white specs in the water - there are a few that would really show up if you printed this. I'd also take just a sliver off the right end of the frame so the space on both ends is about even.

Yes, they all have unconventional HA's but I think it works here with some many of them coming and going. (I'm not very good at being the HA police!) If one had been turned towards you or his HA had been even a bit more towards you that would have made the image even stronger and the more head turns, the better. Still, no reason to throw this out...it's very charming as is.

[John Chardine]

I like the tonality of this image (and incidentally it shows how lighting can affect the way birds look- these kittiwakes are a lot darker on the backs than they appear in more "normal" light). I would like to have seen a few birds here with a better head angle. I do like the pattern the birds make in the image.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. Jules - I agree with you about there being an almost surreal quality. Looking at it, there's a tranquility maybe because the water was so calm at the moment and I think the lighting and color add to the feeling. I think this feeling is why I like the image even though the techs such as HA and having them flying towards rather than away aren't there. Unfortunately, they flew away from the boat. :)

Here's a repost with Jules suggestion of making it more balanced on the sides and also trying to clean up the bg a little.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Julie Kenward]

Nicely done!

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jules.