Arctic Skua

Critiques [Translate]

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• earthtraveler (3483)
• [2007-08-18 9:34]

I like how you captured the beautiful wing lines on this Skua Harry. Lovely point of view shows the feather detail. Nicely composed as well.
TFS
Richard

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• pirate (7474)
• [2007-08-18 9:36]

Hi Harry
I took quite a few pictures of Arctic Skua in Iceland but this one is far better than my best due to: 1. outstanding BG giving a great idea of natural habitat, 2. perfect sharpness all over the body, 3. very nice pose of the skua's head.
Congrat!
Tom

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• Necipp (100)
• [2007-08-18 9:44]

Hello Harry very nice contrast with the background, details and colours looks great, perfect diag composition and nice pose with good warm light on the bird rgds Necip.

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• Arjun (7593)
• [2007-08-18 9:44]

hi harry,
this is an amazing shot.I had never seen a bird in flight like this picture its fantastic...
the picture looks like as if some artist has done a painting.wonderful picture.
congrats,
TFS

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• EOSF1 (23955)
• [2007-08-18 9:48]

Hello Harry ! I'm so jealous of your birds ! :-)) I like 'in flight' shots of birds. You managed it perfectly. I love the background too. Thanks !

Mario

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• falke (1863)
• [2007-08-18 9:55]

Well Harry, here you have fullpointer! This is a absolutely amazing photo of this Skua in flight! Great pose and a beautiful BG. You even got a small glimpse in the eye.

It is almost technically perfect and I just love the subtle colours and the careful treatment from you. Great note as well.

This will be a favourite of mine!
Best regards/Bengt

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• jesst (2441)
• [2007-08-18 10:13]

Nice capture! I like it.

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• Zeno (10867)
• [2007-08-18 10:56]

Ha harry,

Schitterende opname van deze "jager". De crop en de compositie zijn geweldig. Mooie diagonale lijnen en een vogel die voor je lijkt te poseren. Wat wil je nog meer?

groet,
Zeno.

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• Mana (18598)
• [2007-08-18 13:00]

Hi Harry,
Just marking this post and will be back with a proper critique later.
Regards.
Sumon

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• jmirah (4687)
• [2007-08-18 13:15]

Hi Harry,
uaoooooo!! Beautiful capture. Excellent color and detail against a great scenic BG. Very well done.

TFS
Jim

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• Patleboss (5950)
• [2007-08-18 13:21]

Hello Harry,
still another exceptional photograph with your credit, it is really superb
Pat

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• jaycee (25460)
• [2007-08-18 13:50]

Hi Harry,

Your in-flight shots are always a joy to see. I love the diagonal position of the Skua giving a fantastic view of the wings. The position of his head is also wonderful. Superb colors and details and a magnificent setting.

Jane

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• rdfoto (3295)
• [2007-08-18 13:54]

Bonjour Harry
Très belle prise, excellente attitude du sujet et gestion de l'exposition,Bravo

Amicalement Robi

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• K9madtex (1022)
• [2007-08-18 14:02]

Even though you could not use your lens of choice, the photo turned out very fine. The focus and color is great, as well as DOF. TFS

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• janhendrik (2392)
• [2007-08-18 14:13]

Hi Harry,

The light was fantastic, difficult shot handled perfectly, super picture, well done.

Jan-Hendrik

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• krall (1286)
• [2007-08-18 14:18]

Beautiful capture

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• CeltickRanger (37400)
• [2007-08-18 19:05]

bonjour Harry

une autre de tes superbes photos d'oiseau au vol,
j'aime beaucoup l'angle parlaquelle la phot est prise

superbe netteté et détails des plumes des oiseaux

TFS

Asbed

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• Kathleen (232)
• [2007-08-18 20:54]

Hi Harry.
Perfect timing with superb lighting, sharpness and colour. The detail is wonderful having him stand out against his background environment nicely out of focus but with detail.
Superb

Kathleen

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• Jamesp (18906)
• [2007-08-18 23:01]

Hi Harry

Once again a stunning action shot with wonderful detail. The colours and lighting are great too. The diagonal composition is excellent.

James

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• Matt-Bird (1942)
• [2007-08-18 23:42]

Hi Harry.
Great detail and POV. I like how it looks like the Skua has turned its head slightly to look at the camera. Beautiful presentation. Its hard to make comments on your photos because they are usually quite good.
regards
Matt.

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• gracious (13068)
• [2007-08-19 0:25]

Hello Harry,
Excellent composition of the Skua in flight with such a beautiful pov!
Perfect exposure and focus, sharpness, rich colour and details!
well done and thanks for sharing
greeting
Tony

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• anel (40574)
• [2007-08-19 1:51]

Hello harry,
Excellent framing and good light to show us this interesting bird. Perfect attitude of the Arctic Skua. Its way to look reminds me srangely of a dove. Beautiful diagonal composition.
Anne

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• Argus (50626)
• [2007-08-19 2:30]

Hello Harry,
You did well to get such a fine in-flight capture of this dark phase Arctic Skua using a macro lens!
The lighting, colours, sharpness and composition are all first class and an extra bonus is a blurred view of the natural surroundings in the BG. It would be interesting to know what sort of a BG this would have been using a 300 mm.
Thanks for sharing this one,
best wishes, Ivan

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• vanderschelden (30441)
• [2007-08-19 3:53]

Wow...harry!
A superb in flight...
Never saw this one let alone in flight...
Truly a winner...
Congrats and TFS
Annick

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• nainnain (6259)
• [2007-08-19 4:13]

bonjour
j' adore cet oiseau en vol, excellente posture, sur un bon bg flou, voici du bon travail deta part , félicitations et merci
edith

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• angybone (7684)
• [2007-08-19 6:45]

Perfect focus and clarity in the face. WOW!
WOnderful composition. All around great shot!

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• uleko (10940)
• [2007-08-19 10:14]

Hello Harry,
I can't recall seeing many pictures of this bird in flight! This is a masterpiece! It's amazing how you got him to turn his head at the right moment to get the profile as well! Very fine sharp capture in beautiful light. Beautiful colours too in this excellent composition!
Many thanks and regards, Ulla

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• Pier (808)
• [2007-08-19 14:52]
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• charedan (350)
• [2007-08-19 16:43]

Wow... Very good action shot under difficult conditions. Beautful POV, lots of detail in the plumage for an action shot. DOF perfect. Truly amazing, shows how well your in control of your matierial. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Dan.

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• smitha (4409)
• [2007-08-19 20:21]

Hello Harry,
Excellent in flight shot. I never imagined you can take in flight shots of birds with Nikkor 105 mm. Sharpness and details are excellent. The background looks lovely.The diagonal composition is fantastic. I also liked the colours and light.
Thanks a lot for sharing it.
Regards,
Smitha.

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• arfer (0)
• [2007-08-19 21:33]

Hello Harry

The POV and DOF are excellent.The diagonal composition is superb.The focus is excellent with a beautiful OOF BG.Lovely colours.TFS

Rob

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• sandpiper2 (16757)
• [2007-08-20 5:39]

Stunning shot Harry, I especially like the blurred land in the background. It adds depth to the shot. Great POV. Excellent sharpness and tones. Good eye contact.

Chris

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• ralfsworld (6560)
• [2007-08-20 5:58]

Hi Harry
This is really good catch of Arctic Skua in action. Well saturated and sharp, and you used only 105mm lens... I am impressed. I think I am going to tray to do same with my Canon 100mm F/2.8 but Canon don't have VR or IS version. My congratulations
TFS
Ralf

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• claudine (0)
• [2007-08-20 15:14]

Hello Harry,
This is an interesting specie that I didn't know about. It has this so special color... You did well by capturing this fast flying bird. I like its pose a lot, beautiful composition and framing. The blurred BG is lovely too. I guess that it should have been a difficult shot. I enjoyed reading your notes. Thanks,
Claudine

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• marhowie (486)
• [2007-08-20 15:24]

Still an excellent capture Harry..
Even with the short reach lens :)
Sometimes opportunity knocks and we do the very best we can with what we have, as seen here.
The POV can't be topped, and the composition sublime :)
The attitude and pose of the bird makes the shot very special..
Very well done!
Howard

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• mirceax (6261)
• [2007-08-20 15:32]

Hi Harry,
A great capture of this Arctic Skua, I like very much the diagonal composition and the Bg.
tfs

Mircea

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• JORAPAVI (4643)
• [2007-08-21 3:11]

Hola Harry,
Otro magnífico regalo para la vista, preciosa y elegante composición, dejando entreveer el paisaje al fondo, excelente luz y nitidez, TFS. Saludos
José Ramón

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• go2stones (1279)
• [2007-08-21 3:54]

Super shot with the water and mountains in the BG. He really has his eye on us. Well done.

TFS!
Reid

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• red45 (31094)
• [2007-08-21 5:09]

Hi Harry!

Two pictures in one :-) Not only fantastic shot of bird in flight, but also very interesting landscape on BG. Pose, moment, composition - superb. Very interesting story, congratulations for discovering new target for macro lenses :-)

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• snowfalken (1788)
• [2007-08-21 6:15]

Hello Harry,

This is a very good picture in spite of the fact that it is a difficult to shoot bird. It seems you're doing quite a lot of travelling as your pictures are from all over the world.

Composition:

The diagonal composition is very pleasant to look at! I like the eye-contact and the perfect silhouette of the bird against the blurred background. Also, you have my whole admiration for the way you framed the background using the rules of thirds. It is great to have a clue about what this bird's environment looks like. Very well done!

Colors:

The cool and warm color tones balance each other very well! They are well saturated and look natural.

Contrast:

The distribution of contrast between foreground and background is just great. It is an additional way to isolate the subject.

Exposure:

I guess exposing this scene correctly was a multiple challenge. First you had to correctly measure the light and than take in account the difficulty of this subject and the fact that you were shooting from a moving boat. The fast shutter speed was mandatory for the success of this shot. The results are speaking from themselves. Perfectly exposed details in both highlights and shadows. Outstanding job!

Focus:

Focus was also tricky with such moving subjects. Did you use any continuous focusing functions of your camera to track the bird? Whatever the method, the results are outstanding.

You proved your skills in taking such a difficult photo and succeeded. Congratulations! Thank you for sharing!

With Friendly Regards,
Eddie

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• LordPotty (12503)
• [2007-08-21 6:27]

Hi Harry,
Tack sharp capture of this speedy Skua.
Until recently I thought just about every dark coloured gull was a Skua but now I realise how many different gulls there really are. Most of what I called Skua were probably juvenile Black Backed Gulls.
You've done a great job with this one.
Well done.
Steve

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• puciu (2631)
• [2007-08-21 12:33]

cześć. Co tu pisać , poprostu świetnie. 105mm ?
Pozdrawiam Robert.

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• gilou530 (242)
• [2007-08-21 13:56]

salut harry
excellent diagonal made by the bird spread wings, super clearness of the photo well done

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• Aramok (5166)
• [2007-08-21 23:58]

Hi Harry

Well it may not have been the lens of choice, but you did a very good job with it.
I was up in Scotland last month (in the Orkney islands) and know how fast skuas can fly... We were warned off my a couple of Great Skua's and they came in at knee height... We were not aware that they were nesting close by and had been admiring the view...

With photos like yours, it is often the background that makes such a differnce and I really think that is the case here... the 'rural' BG with the rocky area and the sea/fjord helps put the bird in an area.

great capture... did you use flash?

TFS
Emma

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• goutham_ramesh (12237)
• [2007-08-22 13:41]

Hi,
The diagonal position of the wings, superb lighting, perfect exposure , wonderful BG, sharpness and your skill make this is masterpiece recipe The catch light is like a wine to go with it :-)
TFS
Goutham

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• Bufo (4247)
• [2007-08-24 4:05]

Dag Harry,
ik was afgelopen drie weken op spitsbergen en heb heel wat van deze kleine jagers gezien, waaronder de donkere vorm. Toch is het me zeker niet gelukt om zo'n fraaie plaat te maken van een vogel hoewel ze absoluut niet schuw zijn. Wel apart om met een macro deze foto te maken, maar dat is hier wel heel goed gelukt.
De belichting in combinatie met de ongewone vliegbeeld opname maken het een bijzondere foto.

Groeten,
Jacob

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• PeterZ (49139)
• [2007-08-25 8:21]

Hallo Harry,
Deze was me nog even ontgaan vanwege vakantie. Weer een perfecte opname. Heel bijzonder vind ik de diagonale compositie in verhouding met de kop van de vogel. Of hij zo je camera in vliegt. Ook de achtergrond is bijzonder mooi.
Groeten,
Peter

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• star74 (2474)
• [2007-08-26 8:15]

Hi Harry,
Excellent capture of this bird.
Perfect timing
Nice clear details and sharpness.
Well done

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• elefantino (14406)
• [2007-08-27 8:37]

Hello Harry, great shot with an amazing sharpness and good natural colors.
I like the way you frozen it.
TFS

Andrea

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• AnimalExplorer (1997)
• [2007-09-07 9:55]

Hi Harry,
Excellent full frame of this skua and all with the perfect aperature. I think the 105 micro nikkor worked out fine in this case. I've actually used that lens for portrait shots and turns out nice results. Your shot here proves the lens is pretty versatile and the creativeness has little constraint, I take the lenses out of the 105 on the weekend and use it for a beer stein. :)

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• jrubiocasado (6112)
• [2007-09-12 3:08]

Hi Harry
Is a very nice portrait, light, colors, bacground.... is very good, congratulations
Regards

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• SelenE (13972)
• [2007-09-20 0:53]

Hi Harry,
Lovely in-flight photo of this Arctic Skua . POV, eye contact, focus, colors, composition and light are very good. Well done and TFS
Best wishes,
Selen

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• cicindela (9226)
• [2007-09-24 14:58]

Hello again!
Sharp, detailed, colourful, great composed... I can continue for a long time. This picture is really great! And for me also brings some memories from the time when I was on Spitsbergen :)
What can I say more? I like this picture a lot :)
Best regards,
Radomir

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• deud (2540)
• [2007-10-15 0:40]

amazing in-flight shot! great timing. tfs

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• rcrick (68)
• [2008-03-22 15:51]

Hi Harry
Many thanks for the kind words and the feedback, its very much appreciated, its the first time I've seen your work on TN and mate its amazing, these aerial shots are just stunning, you have an incredible gallery of image's and I look forward to seeing some more, all the best, Happy Easter, Cheers Rick.

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• CatStevens (468)
• [2008-04-06 14:26]

Hi Harry,
Fantastic shot. Focus spot on.
Simply stunning!
TFS
Mark

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• ahu_ilbeyi (284)
• [2013-11-04 12:08]

perfecct :)