Puffin.

Nikon D4
Nikon 300ml 2.8
1/2500 @f7.1 ISO320

Had a great day in the summer on Skomer what a great place!

I like some of the things I have done with this image but not so pleased with it's eye(any ideas?)and of course there could be a lot more that's not right.

Critique please.

Always difficult to balance the blacks and whites in high summer sunshine and some detail definition has been lost on the back . Shame about the tail clip but I suspect your viewpoint on the cliff edge is the limiting factor here. Still a very nice image

Thanks Mike I have tried using shadows/highlights but I do find that it sometimes brings out noise.

Nits been mentioned already by Mike.
Blacks and whites shouldn't be too much bother with the high dynamic range the D4 has. Could the lack of detail in the blacks have been down to underexposure? Alternative would be to use flash to balance the extreme blacks and whites.
Nice to see a bit of sunshine
John

John think you are right it was a very bright day so I did underexpose.

Keith.

Well caught action shot here Keith,

I think the tail being clipped by the grass works well in this image as the wing position gives you the feeling it is emerging from the grassland. The darks could be a tad lightened up to show some more detail but other then that this is a fine image.

greetings,

Jeroen Stel