I am sorry for being almost absent from ETL over the past month. I'm on a ship in Antarctica and am working 16h days. Anyway, I have a chance to post as we make our way north on the Drake Passage.
I love birds in flight photography and practise makes you better at it. We had great opportunities yesterday at Turret Point on King George Island in the South Shetlands, to photograph Southern Giant Petrels flying over their breeding colony. BIF conditions were perfect with the light and wind coming from the same direction and I had the option of having both at my back.
This image was slightly cropped, the eye was lightened a little, and of course it was sharpened. All comments welcome!
Date: 30 November, 2010, 11:48h
Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF400mm f/5.6L USM @ 400 mm
Program: Manual
ISO 800, 1/2000s, f/6.3
Exp. comp.: 0.0
Flash: off
John, I really like the wing spread, angled body position and the dangling feet. The translucent look of the web feet is great. I think there is just enough darker color on the bird to make it work with the high key BG.
Peter
I also like the dangling legs & the translucent feet. The detail in the underside of the wings is excellent. I think the exposure is right on. Beautiful BIF image.
John...thanks for the opening giggle! I love the feet...love them! It's not often you can count the veins running through a bird's feet...amazing. The comp is also wonderful...did you shoot a series and pick the best one or did he stay like this for a while so you could get him at just the right time?
Love the high key look and agree that there's enough darker tones to pull this off.
Tom- Seabirds provide many options to photograph on board a ship. Often the particular conditions of the day- the wind direction in relation to the ship's heading- determine if they come close to the stern or sides of the vessel for closer looks. I use my 70-200/4 quite a bit for this but the reach can be limited so I've been using the 400/5.6 to good effect. I have a feeling the 400/4 DO would also be a good choice.
Hey Andrew- I haven't shot Nikon since my D70 days. I've been extremely happy with my Canon gear over the past three years.
I will print this image when I return home. Some of the small detail is lost in the web version posted here.
flaps down
