Brown Booby

Gallery: AvianPosted March 19, 201162 views9 comments

Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)

This is another shot of the female Brown Booby that I observed last December on Cayman Brac, a sister island of Grand Cayman. As I mentioned earlier, she reminded me of a radar antenna: her head was scanning back and forth continuously.

There is some nice detail in this shot. However, I do wish that we could see the feet of the bird. Also, it's almost full frame (I snipped a bit off the bottom). So, it may be a little tight but I like to avoid adding canvas if I can. The light was quite harsh but I think the camera settings took care of it pretty well.

All comments very welcome.

1D Mark IV, 400 mm f/5.6, 1.4x TC, hand held: ISO 800, 1/1000 s, f/13, 0 EV (Manual), 13.8 MP after cropping, usual NR, exposure adjustment, sharpening.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 19, 2011 at 7:38 AM

I don't mind not seeing the feet and am pleased to see the light on the face. I like the setting too

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 19, 2011 at 4:35 PM

Nice Steve. I like the comp a lot. Maybe just a bit of a halo around the birds head, but that is easy to fix. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on March 19, 2011 at 8:20 PM

Thank you both very much for your comments. Ron, I ran a threshold layer check on this image and noticed the "halo". However, I convinced myself that it's just the sunlight through the feathers......maybe it's not.....maybe it is.....

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Michele Williams on March 20, 2011 at 7:51 AM

I really like this image. The detail in the face and the feathers is great. I would prefer to see the feet but that is obviously not something you can control. The light around the head doesn't look like halo to me but I'm still learning. How do you do a threshold check? Thanks for sharing.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 28 Posts, 146 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on March 20, 2011 at 11:31 AM

Thank you, Dorthea: we're all still learning!!
Re: Threshold Check
I like to use this to check for halos because so often I don't see them until someone else points them out! I run it on the actual images to be posted (i.e. the small version and the large version jpeg).
For CS 5 proceed as follows: click windows then adjustments. In the resulting window select the icon that says "create a new threshold adjustment layer". Then move the slider around to see if halos are evident as you slowly change threshold. When you are finished, just press "delete" to delete the new layer.
Hope this helps!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 20, 2011 at 12:41 PM

Nice portrait The head turn helps to keep it from feeling too tight.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 20, 2011 at 2:25 PM

Steve,
I love the head turn of this Sula, the detail you captured and the clear background. Beautiful bird and beautiful comp.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 20, 2011 at 11:21 PM

cool pose and nice details, Steve. I'm not bothered by the lack of feet. Like you say, the light wasn't ideal, but a good job for the conditions.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Holguin on March 21, 2011 at 1:04 AM

Real nice pic. Great detail and sharpness. Nice eye contact and exposed real well. I dont mind not being able to see its feet. Well done.

Registered on January 25, 2011, 44 Posts, 294 Comments