Pair-a Parakeet Auklets

Gallery: AvianPosted October 11, 201182 views5 comments

Wow, it has been a while! I was surprised that I didn't share more of my images from my July trip to St. George Island (in Alaska's Pribilof Island Group). 4 days and 5,000 photos was a lot to go through. Can't wait to go back again in 2012!
The rookeries on the island are staggering, and approachable. This is a pair of parakeet auklets I photographed while lying down in the grasses at the edge of one of the sea cliff colonies. My upper torso was hanging out over the edge, with the Bering Sea crashing about 250-300 feet below. I learned that I have a bit of a vertigo issue in this kind of scenario, and my fear of heights was a bit reinforced

Well worth the sweaty palms though

Canon 7D
100-400 (@400mm)
1/500" (handheld)
f7.1
ISO 640

I have several more photos on my blog and invite you to check them out if you are interested. My good friend, Scott Slone also produced a cool video to promote my St. George Island photo tour in 2012 - hope you'll check it out, even if you don't join us, it's a fun video

St. George Video

Blog Link

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Sally King on October 11, 2011 at 12:50 PM

Nice portrait with excellent details. Very cool looking bird. I would have some vertigo in that situation too.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on October 11, 2011 at 2:22 PM

Dave, love the portrait with the OOF buddy in the BG. No way I can get within 15 feet of a cliff edge. Great job with exposure on the blacks and whites.

Skip Harris

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on October 11, 2011 at 2:56 PM

A wonderful image Dave. I know I would never have been able to hang over a cliff to take an image. I would have had more than sweaty palms.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on October 11, 2011 at 10:38 PM

Beautiful bird. I like the opposing positions of the two auklets. It feels a bit crowded to me though and if you have more space all around that would be nice.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on October 11, 2011 at 10:45 PM

I like the pose of the foreground Auklet, David. For my taste , the oof bird behind it is a bit of a distraction. Excellent exposure and detail-and you wouldn't catch me anywhere near a cliff like that!

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments