Birds and cliffs

[Paulo Bizarro]

This one was taken near Cabo Sardão, in Southwest Portugal's coast. It is one of my prefered locations to photograph. There are numerous nesting birds (storks, seagulls), with chicks this time of the year.

[Tony Jay]

Hi Paulo!

I like the first image a lot and think that it has a lot of potential.
The bird itself is captured with good detail but I can't help thinking that a slightly tighter crop would improve the image overall.

The second image doesn't quite work but I can definately appreciate the vision behind it.
Bird photography is definately about the birds and sadly in this image the detail I would like to see is not apparent.
It is difficult to get good detailed shots of birds that don't appear to be static portraits and so a lot of patience is required.
In this instance the high contrast makes things worse. Fill flash might be an option to get a little more detail from the shadows.

I am loooking forward to seeing more images.

Regards

Tony Jay

[Paulo Bizarro]

Tony,

Thanks for your comments. In the second image, I was far away from the nests, and was using a Canon 60D with the 70-300 L lens. Also, I was at the edge of the cliff, so no chance of getting closer. I have tried to convey not so much the detail of the birds, but their precarious surroundings. The lighting was from close to sunset on the left, hence the lateral ligthing with a high contrast.

This time of the year, there are lots of stork nests in this area, and I have uploaded some more photos I did on that day. I am planning to go back in the early morning, with the lighting on my back.

[Tony Jay]

Yes, I am with you when you talk about the difficulties of getting close enough especially in those surroundings.

Regards

Tony Jay

[MTGFender]

Fantastic capture Paulo.