Pigeon Guillemot

[Ian Cassell]

Avila Beach, CA

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L

1/400 sec f/5.6 Tv +2 ISO 800

Levels, Sharpening in CS5
NR on BG in Noiseware Pro

[Bob Pelkey]

It's interesting how the camera sometimes captures the extraordinary,
in this case the reflection of a boat?

[Ian Cassell]

Hmmmm, Bob, I'm not seeing it. I see the reflection of the bird's head and neck broken by the wave, but no other reflection. The orange behind the bird is his legs refracted through the water and not a reflection.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I use this same setup all the time. Did you bump up the ISO due to low light. I would crop a tad - maybe the dark reflection blur near bottom middle but that's me and lighten left eye a bit.

Ian, I like the swimming pose and trailing red legs - very neat image.

[Kerry Perkins]

Ian, nice capture and an interesting subject. Nice to get a shot of this species, did you find it in Arizona?

A couple of comments about the image - I agree with Jeff that the bird seems small in the frame and the shooting angle is a bit high. As for the image technically, it has a very low contrast "milky" look that means that the entire histogram is shifted to the right so there is very little black in the image. I did a little work in PS, using a curves adjustment, some saturation, and a round of USM to bring out the detail. A little more work will make this a much stronger image.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks. That really helps, Kerry. I will go back to the original RAW file and play for a while. As for the high angle, that couldn't be helped. I was standing on the pier in Avila Beach, CA and he was swimming below me. I would have had to fight some rather large California Sea Lions on the lower level of the pier if I wanted to get down at water level and they were much bigger than I .

[Kerry Perkins]

Ian, I know that spot and was just there a couple of months ago! I realize that the shooting angle can't be helped sometimes, just have to mention it. Avila Beach has an interesting orientation and you can get beach shots in two directions. Bonus!