Laysan Albatross III

Gallery: AvianPosted January 25, 2016102 views4 comments

As with most birds that have a very large wingspan (6 1/2 feet or 2 meters in this case), the head kind of disappears when the entire wingspan is included in an image and the eye becomes very tiny. I like to try to capture a bit more of a close-up for this kind of bird. This one obliged by flying by within a few yards of me (barely outside minimum focal distance at closest approach). I toyed with a couple of tighter crops, but the bends in the wings seems to me to help convey their size even though I chopped them off, so I left in at full frame.

7D2, Sigma 150-600 Contemporary @ 324 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200, iso 320, manual metering. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Full frame. Taken January 18th at 11:11 AM at Kaena Point, Oahu.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone sees a crop that might improve this.

Thanks,

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on January 26, 2016 at 12:31 PM

This is pretty cool, Dennis. I like the crop, like the wing position, and I like the clarity. The only thing that bothers me is that the large version is way too large to view the image. Maybe pulling it back to 1000px for an image like this would work.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on January 26, 2016 at 2:41 PM

This crop with the wings diagonal works quite well. Everything is tack sharp. The large image fits with no problem on my 24 inch monitor.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on January 27, 2016 at 4:09 AM

Hi Dennis
This shot is a very good compromise considering the geometric and scale implications. The noiseless IQ is remarkable with crisp outline, accurate WB, fine detail, catch-light and implied forward gliding motion. It’s a challenging situation in many respects – more so than your earlier Laysan Albatross ll. I tried a yet tighter crop with the bird’s eye still positioned off centre a couple cm, at
2 o-clock. Although that result is not entirely convincing I felt that it is a possible alternative.
David

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on January 27, 2016 at 2:20 PM

Really nice feather detail in this Dennis. I don't know why but I love their eyes, they almost look like they have eyebrows. The only cropping suggestion I have would be to crop in closer to include more of the birds body and less wings to concentrate the viewers attention there. Just an thought. Nice catch as posted though!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments