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Paul_Joslin
KITTIWAKE WALKING ON CALM WATER
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KITTIWAKE WALKING ON CALM WATER



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The water in Kodiak harbor was as still as glass as the kittiwakes repeatedly touched its surface without alighting to pick off tiny edible morsels. ...
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The water in Kodiak harbor was as still as glass as the kittiwakes repeatedly touched its surface without alighting to pick off tiny edible morsels.
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locationKodiak, Alaska, US

upload_dateSep, 2019

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436

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Awards

Winner in Seaside Reflections Photo Challenge
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2 Comments |
GerCooper Platinum
 
GerCooper March 19, 2021
Congratulations on your well deserved win!
Paul_Joslin Platinum
Paul_Joslin March 19, 2021
Thank you Gerry!
janvanpoortvliet PRO+
 
janvanpoortvliet March 20, 2021
Right on time wow
Paul_Joslin Platinum
Paul_Joslin March 21, 2021
Thank you Jan

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Tags

#bird #flying #water #animals #gull #kittiwake #black & white #nature #action #reflections
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took the photo in Kodiak harbor, Alaska on a very calm cloudy day.

Time

It was mid afternoon.

Lighting

The overhead clouds made for very flat lighting conditions. Sheltered by neighboring Near Island on one side and Kodiak on the other, the waters of the Gulf of Alaska were still, making for mirror like conditions

Equipment

My standard photo equipment in the field consists of one camera and one lens, namely a Nikon D500 and a Nikkor 18 to 300 mm lens. The lens is sharp enough, camera tracking abilities good enough and the quality of vibration reduction system sufficient to catch the variety of photographic conditions I encounter in the field. Using a single ultra zoom lens also means not having to take time to switch lenses in the middle of a field shoot or risk getting dust on the photo processor. Almost all of my more than 100 ViewBug challenge wins and contest successes have been achieved with this equipment.

Inspiration

Kittiwakes were flying low over the still waters periodically touching the surface to pick off tiny morsels of food. I was struck by how most barely penetrated the glass like surface giving the appearance of walking on water. I took many photos trying to capture that moment. I also played around with the shutter speed trying to find the sweet spot where the subject was sharp while the wing tips were blurred by the motion.

Editing

I always include some amount of post processing this case converting the photo into a black and white as well as focusing on cropping the photo in a way that improved its impact.

In my camera bag

In addition to the Nikon camera and Nikkor lens my camera bag includes spare SD cards, camera batteries and camera lens cleaner. My bag is of the sling type which enables me to swing it to the front and reach the camera in a moments notice. I have removed the bulk of the camera padding and replaced it with a gardener's knee pad. While serving as camera padding during travel, when I am shooting onsite the pad sometimes serves as something to sit, kneel or lie on. I rarely take long exposures so most of the time I leave my tripod behind.

Feedback

While I enjoy the challenge of photographing birds in flight, I try to focus on capturing those aspects where the flight involves some key rare moment.

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