Like a chubby bullet


Posted by Graeme Guy on Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:04 pm

All times are UTC-05:00

Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 17 posts | 
Image
As mentioned I spent two mornings on the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian Coast in the UK. 
The weather was dull mostly but it opened up enough briefly to get some flight shots.
The Puffins nest in holes like a colony of Hobbits and they come in with full beaks to feed their young.
They fly fast and straight but have rather stunted wings that are used like flippers when swimming under water. They are reported to flap their wings at 300-400 beats per minute.....I did not count them but they are rapid.
I tried speeds at 1/3000-1/4000 but there was still wing blur. 1/8000 seemed to do the trick....but it is hard work.

Canon EOS1Dx, 100-400mm lens @300mm, 1/8000, f9, ISO 1600


Cheers
Graeme
Graeme Guy
Penang,
Malaysia

http://grguy.smugmug.com

User avatar
Posted by:
Graeme Guy
Forum Contributor
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Member #:01714
Posts: 2713
Joined: 26 Nov 2011

   

by Biresh on Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:14 pm
Biresh
Forum Contributor
Posts: 760
Joined: 6 Jul 2014
Location: Jalpaiguri,West Bengal, India
Beautiful image
 

by Neilef28 on Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:42 pm
Neilef28
Forum Contributor
Posts: 642
Joined: 26 Jan 2010
Really like this image. Good clarity and uncluttered background. It would be great without the mouthful of fish, but is that much better with it.
 

by KK Hui on Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:31 am
User avatar
KK Hui
Moderator
Posts: 42664
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Hong Kong, China
Member #:00536
Great experiment and great result for the frozen wings, Graeme!
Just wished for better light while you were there ...
KK Hui  FRPS
Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society
Personal Website | Portfolio @ Flickr

Lifetime Member NSN 0536
 

by Roger Leekam on Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:19 am
Roger Leekam
Forum Contributor
Posts: 51
Joined: 20 May 2015
Great shot! Hard work but a wonderful reward.
 

by WDCarrier on Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:55 am
User avatar
WDCarrier
Forum Contributor
Posts: 1652
Joined: 15 Mar 2012
Location: Eureka, California
Graeme, The image is outstanding but I'm compromised on it's effectiveness for this species. To the untrained observer it depicts slow wing beat and stops motion which is, as you described, not in the puffin's character. travel. I guess I'd prefer a bit of wing blur giving some motion to the image. But, being that I'm a biologist I do tend to look at things from a different perspective.
Dean
[font=Helvetica, sans-serif]“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” MLK[/font]
 

by himadri roy on Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:31 am
User avatar
himadri roy
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5071
Joined: 24 Jan 2014
Location: Jalpaiguri , W.B. India
Member #:02163
Excellent flight shot this.
 

by Kathryn on Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:03 am
User avatar
Kathryn
Forum Contributor
Posts: 19
Joined: 31 May 2015
Really like this. I love the mouth full of fish. Good work playing with the exposure. Requires some quick thinking I'm sure!
 

by NiagaraMike on Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:31 am
NiagaraMike
Forum Contributor
Posts: 726
Joined: 9 Jan 2015
Talented bird and skilled photographer. Wonderful image and the shutter works just fine.
 

by Missy Mandel on Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:48 pm
User avatar
Missy Mandel
Forum Contributor
Posts: 3537
Joined: 21 Feb 2014
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Member #:01973
Graeme, I have photographed puffins and concur with the difficulty of doing so. I think you have done an outstanding job photographing this one in flight given the conditions. I like the background very much too
Missy Mandel
Toronto, Canada
Comments and critiques welcomed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/missymandel/
www.missymandel.ca
Instagram missymandel_photography
 

by Graeme Guy on Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:08 pm
User avatar
Graeme Guy
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2713
Joined: 26 Nov 2011
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Member #:01714
I thank those who have commented. I find the comments particularly useful and that is how they should be. I personally like wings to always be frozen and sharp...but that is how I am programmed and I respect the other view.

Cheers
Graeme
Graeme Guy
Penang,
Malaysia

http://grguy.smugmug.com
 

by Iain Campbell on Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:21 pm
User avatar
Iain Campbell
Lifetime Member
Posts: 131
Joined: 6 Dec 2011
Member #:01718
A hard bullet to catch.

Congratulations.
 

by bikinchris on Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:43 pm
bikinchris
Forum Contributor
Posts: 473
Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Location: Little Rock, AR USA
Personally, I like the fish.
Chris
http://www.eaglewheel.us
 

by Homer on Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:37 am
Homer
Forum Contributor
Posts: 18229
Joined: 7 Jan 2007
Location: Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Excellent shot Graeme
 

by Todd Bauer on Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:46 am
Todd Bauer
Forum Contributor
Posts: 1315
Joined: 26 May 2015
Location: Houston, TX
Member #:02032
Your persistence paid off handsomely. Now I'm going to have to Youtube how they keep so many fish in their beak.
Todd Bauer
Houston, TX
 

by Karl Egressy on Sun Jul 05, 2015 2:21 pm
User avatar
Karl Egressy
Forum Contributor
Posts: 39506
Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Member #:00988
Woo that's a mouthful he carries. Nice flight shot, Graeme.
 

by Carol Clarke on Mon Jul 06, 2015 5:38 am
User avatar
Carol Clarke
Chief Forum Administrator
Posts: 73064
Joined: 22 Aug 2003
Location: Lincolnshire, UK. In tune with Nature.
Member #:00067
Beautifully done Graeme!  Superb detail and exposure for such a little flapper.   8)
Carol Clarke
Chief Forum Administrator.


"When the power of love is greater than the love of power,
the world will know peace"....Jimi Hendrix.

NSN0067
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
17 posts | 

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group