Morning Gannet

[carole wiley]

So many gannets so little time. This was taken from a zodiak off Bonaventure with the Mark III, 100-400 @200. I couldn't decide on one to post, don't know why I went with this one, they are just such and amazing bird. Thanks for looking.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

carole, well John will love this of course he has spent years studying and protecting this species. Really like this one. Love the head angle and subtle colors,.. is the 200MM or shutter. Whites are in check on my monitor, what was aperture.

I might take some off the top and a bit off the bottom. Not sure, I do not like tight shots but the partial reflection at bottom tends to draw my eye - let's see what others say - beautiful picture.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Carole, I love the rich colors in the bg and the gannet's colors really mirror those colors which is nice. I could see a crop from the top and maybe a slight NR on the bg.

[carole wiley]

carole, well John will love this of course he has spent years studying and protecting this species. Really like this one. Love the head angle and subtle colors,.. is the 200MM or shutter. Whites are in check on my monitor, what was aperture.

I might take some off the top and a bit off the bottom. Not sure, I do not like tight shots but the partial reflection at bottom tends to draw my eye - let's see what others say - beautiful picture.

Jeff, it was at 200mm. SS was 1/6400 iso 3200, I know, it all seems extreme but handholding is a challenge for me and handholding while bobbing up and down in a zodiac at 5:30 in the morning is a real test. Thanks for your suggestions.

[John Chardine]

Yep, it's a beauty Carole. The light for me is the key here. You just don't get that quality during the day when you are allowed on the island. Sharpness and head angle are great. Camera angle is a little high. I know it's not easy to get low from a boat but if you use a longer focal length and shoot from farther away, your angle will be more shallow. I agree with Jeff it needs some off the top if your subject is the gannet, but if your intent is more an environmental image then I am OK with the space at the top (the water is so rich looking).

[Doug Brown]

Incredible water color and a beautiful bird! Good suggestions above. Although it's challenging to hand hold from a Zodiac, you don't need 1/6400 to stop the action; 1/2000 probably would have been plenty and then you could have dropped your ISO. Here's a repost with a crop off the top and some desaturation of the blues, which are evident in the whites. I desaturated the blues out of the entire image save for the eye, but you could just as easily do it to the bird only. How do you like it?

[carole wiley]

Incredible water color and a beautiful bird! Good suggestions above. Although it's challenging to hand hold from a Zodiac, you don't need 1/6400 to stop the action; 1/2000 probably would have been plenty and then you could have dropped your ISO. Here's a repost with a crop off the top and some desaturation of the blues, which are evident in the whites. I desaturated the blues out of the entire image save for the eye, but you could just as easily do it to the bird only. How do you like it?

Thanks Doug, I knew there was something bothering me, turnes out it was the blue cast.

[Brendan Dozier]

Beautiful Gannet, and great capture, Carole. Like the pose and morning light, and Doug's repost makes it even stronger. Nice work!

[Kerry Perkins]

Carole, great job on the capture. The exposure is spot on with nice detail in the whites. Doug's crop and color correction really work nicely to make the image even better. Would like to see some more!