Taken on one of the last days on the Farne Islands, before the reserve closes and the breeding birds leave until the following year. This guy was obviously 'bringing home the bacon'.
Steve
MKIII 300f2.8 1/2500 f/4 ISO200 (HH slight crop for posting)
Puffin - (Fratercula arctica)
Taken on one of the last days on the Farne Islands, before the reserve closes and the breeding birds leave until the following year. This guy was obviously 'bringing home the bacon'.
Steve
MKIII 300f2.8 1/2500 f/4 ISO200 (HH slight crop for posting)
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Super dooper lovely detail in all the plumage, I like the ven lighting - something that usually eludes me when I go to the Farnes. I think the fish look a little unhappy!
Steve:
The soft light really helped you here, as the angle was from the left and behind the bird somewhat, and if brighter, would have been a very challenging exposure.
I do wish there was a bit more illumination on the birds face, esp the eye and back half.
Is flash allowed at that location. Just a touch would have been helpful here.
Effective background.
Cheers
Randy
Hi Steve, lovely soft light, and you have nailed the exposure nicely. The pose shows off his catch very well, and the smooth BG rounds this off nicely.
Thanks guys.
Randy flash is allowed and is something I still am not happy in using and I guess moments like this show.Also being 'white' in key areas I do have concerns about retaining the detail, even say at -2 for flash.
Think I need to try it out more.
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Steve this image is really cool, so different to what we used to seeing in SA. I love the 4 fish in the Puffins mouth. The suggestion for a bit of flash would have worked nicely. Great HA and BG
Steve:
I really hate the look of an over flashed image, I would generally prefer no flash to poorly done flash.
But, it can really be your friend in certain conditions, and used carefully can really help.
On this image, I would probably have tried -2 or -3 EC with a better beamer, just to add a touch of fill.
Yes, whites are a concern, but I think it is worth experimenting with.
Cheers
Randy
Randy, with the BB, would that have be useful baring in mind how close the Puffin was, probably about 12ft away? Wouldn't using a flash on it's own been as good? Welcome your thoughts.
I have the 580ex MKII
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Very nice image Steve. Well exposed with good sharpness. Great pose from this one and even got some extra eyes. I am ok with the face illumination (I favor a bit darker image) and am not a big fan of flash and wildlife.
TFS
Todd
Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski
Steve:
You certainly would have enough reach at that distance without the beamer. I didn't realize you were in so close. However, on of the side benefits of the beamer is a tighter flash pattern, which you might have been able to use to your advantage to shape the light more and control the added light.
I certainly wouldn't want more on the rock/perch, but would like to fill in the face just a bit, so a beamer with very low power might have worked well.
Does the Canon flash you mentioned have any internal light shaping options?
The SB900 (Nikon) allows you to chose from different light patterns, plush you can zoom it out to 200mm to further tighten the beam.
I certainly would have taken this picture with no flash as well, but if I have the time, I often will take several images with different amounts of fill flash.
I generally set up my rig first thing with the flash already attached, and thus have it ready to try when needed.
Many of my loon shots have fill flash used, and I think most are fairly subtle.
Cheers
Randy
Steve, love puffin shots like this. The fish eyes really make this one for me.
Hey Steve,
Might be my favorite bird! Tough to get the eye lit.....but enough detail int there for me and super story and BG.
Thanks again everyone, it's alway nice to swing by this part of the Forum.
Randy very useful feedback as usual and thanks. Sadly the Canon to my knowledge, cannot provide any pattern or light variation :(
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Classic shot of this bird!
Gorgeous Shot! I love beak full of fish very nice.
Beautiful image Steve! I like the catch of the day and BG!
Like the shot of the bird, Steve.
However, somehow the composition just does not feel right, too centered in a way. I wonder if a landscape crop would have been better?
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