Puffy Puffin, Clown of the Sea

[Rachel Hollander]

I thought this image was fitting of the puffin's nickname as "Clown of the Sea" with its off balance stance, head on pose and chest that appeared puffed up. Unfortunately the other bird intersecting in the bg is not ideal but I don't trust my pp skills enough to remove it.

Canon 7D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/4000
f5.6
ISO 400
HH from blind, ff, levels, curves, selective burning and dodging, sharpened in CS5.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Rachel, very nice indeed. great pose. that one foot up is the best part, IMO. I am liking the dead-center placement of the bird. Sun, a little too high, but you've handled it well. Very enjoyable image.

[Arthur Morris]

Cute bird and pose with a very good EXP and nice detail in the WHITEs. Is that another puffin in the BKGR?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thank you both. Artie - yes, that's another puffin in the bkgr.

[PhilCook]

Fat and jolly it seems, and natures " oompaloompas { Willie Wonka and theChocolate Factory } "
Classic pose Rachel, I am so envious you have these birds over you part of the world. I think the central composition works well with the front on view and whits have help up well considering the bright light

[Grace Scalzo]

Really an adorable pose. Nicely done in that light up there.

[Melissa Groo]

Ridiculously cute pose, Rachel. Excellent job on the exposure and the details in the whites, as Artie pointed out.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes, comical pose...with an apt title to boot! Great techs. I do wish the OOF puffin and the rock it is on were not there but a very fun image that brought a smile to my face - in other words it evoked an emotion which makes it a success!

[Arthur Morris]

Thank you both. Artie - yes, that's another puffin in the bkgr.

That's what I thought. It would be a lot of work to remove it but it might very well be worth it....

[gail bisson]

Hi Rachel,
This pose is so cute and I think it is worth the time to clone out the OOF bird.Just meticulously select (with magnetic lasso) the puffin on your background copy, go to layers, then hit reveal selection . Now go back to background ( not BG copy) and erase away without affecting the bird and then flatten image.
Whites look excellent and I love the leg up!
Gail

[Chris Jimenez]

Great capture! Like the position of the of the bird

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I took a stab at removing the bg puffin (thanks Gail). Had to do a little repair to the wing too. Here's a repost.

[christopher galeski]

like it,right title,nice exposure,funny pose.well done.

[gail bisson]

You did a great job removing the OOF bird.
Repost is now much better and allows the eye to see the bird so much more clearly!
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Wow, Rachel, such an improvement! Great tip from Gail.

[Arthur Morris]

Well done and much better.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Christopher, Gail, Melissa and Artie. I'm happy with the results too.

Rachel

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, love the pose with the raised foot, and what small wings they have. Great whites, plumage shows up nicely, and very well done on your repost.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot. I just love the pose and having one foot just makes it even better. Excellet work on controlling the whites and the repost is much, much better.
Well done.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Stuart and Robert.