Puffin

[Michaela]

Hello all,

This was taken on the Farne Islands, in Northumbria, last week.

Any suggestions welcome, especially relating to post-processesing, as I haven't done anything to it yet.

Thanks for looking

[Bobobird]

Nice shot.

Looks somewhat underexposed here but if that is the look you are after that is fine.

[Muriel]

Nice shot! I too think it could be lightened a bit and then cropped some.

[Dizzy]

Michaela, Puffins are just cool looking birds, and any shot of one is good IMO!

Made no other changes to the pic, but this is a crop I might consider:

[Geoff F]

Yes, I think you need a fairly tight crop here. I find that out of focus bird is distracting from an excellent main subject.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Michaela,

Well you could do a couple of crops here; one almost as shot, or keep just the main subject, in (say) a square crop.

If you retain the birds on the left, I would locally tone down the bright white chest to below the level of the main subject's chest, but don't over do it, or it'll look wrong.

I probably favour a tighter crop - to get more bird in the frame compared to background.

A small increase in overall exposure could also be done, as suggested by Bobo and Muriel.

For the record, the EXIF data says; Canon EOS 7D, EF70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM at 300 mm; Manual exposure, 1/1,600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320.

Cheers,

[Michaela]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to give me some great critique I will have a go, and re-post.

[jeeperman]

Very cool bird and one I hope to get a shot at one of these days. I agree with the advice given and have nothing more to offer but....nice capture.

[Michaela]

Well It took a while, but here is my finished image, thanks again for all the advice.

I went for the tighter crop in the end, and a slight adjustment to the exposure. I also had a go at lightening a couple of dark patches in the background, and tried to sharpen the feathers a little, all of which was a bit of a learning curve for me as I haven't really used photoshop much at all.

[terrib]

That is a beautiful picture of a beautiful bird. I like this tight crop much better since you can really see the detail in the bird.

[Geoff F]

For me, Michaela, close up bird, and insect, photos are portraits; so I usually use the same techniques as I would for photographing people.

As you have done with this excellent photo.

[Dave Humphries]

Very nice Michaela,

You negotiated 'the curve' very well

[Mike Buckley]

As Dave mentioned, you did exceptionally well with your learning curve. Your second version is comparable to that of a far more seasoned post-processor. Congratulations!