So here us my 2nd attempt at trying to get a full dive from a gannet diving to catch fish. This is 7 images photoshopped using layers to bring the gannets dive through the water.
Apr, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This series of images was taken at Saltcoats promenade, over looking the firth of clyde with the Isle of Arran in the background. There were a few gannets flying and diving and trying to watch just one was a challenge in itself.Time
This series of images was taken around 12 -2pm on 20th April 2018. It was a sunday and a lovely sunny day which can be rare on the west coast of Scotland.Lighting
The lighting is all natural a clear sky and the sun high in the sky helped keep the shadows at bay.Equipment
This was a hand held and set to high speed continuous shooting which on the Canon EOS7D mkii is ideal. The camera as stated is a Canon EOS 7D mkii with a canon 70-200 F2.8 lens with the 2x extention added making the lens reach out to make it a 140-400 mm F5.6 lens. The 2x adds two stops on to it. The shot itself was shot at F5.6 and ISO400 and shot at 1/5000 of a second.Inspiration
The inspiration for this was a few days earlier i was walking my dog at Ardrossan harbour and had my camera and shot a gannet there doing the exact same feeding and managed to get a series of images of the bird in flight turn and dive (see my view bug images a few before this image) I was not happy with the harbours breakwater in the shot behind the gannet as it dived and I only managed to get 4 shots that day. So made the choice to drive to Saltcoats where i knew there was no breakwater to get into the images and ruin it.Editing
Yes, This is 7 images that were then edited in photoshop, it is a composite image of the same gannet in a diving stoop so had to be post processed in some imaging software to get the full effect. So for the editing the Isle of Arran helped and also hindered me at times. The main image is the top image and each one after that i had to line up the landscape of the island in the background to make the sequence run from stoop to dive. I used layers and lines them up over and over each time merging the layers to make the image flow as i saw it in real time.In my camera bag
Normally depends on what i am hopefully able to shoot, It can change depending on the time of day the distance i'm traveling the weight of the backpack etc etc. That said on a normal shoot like this is was camera Canon 7D mkii spare batteries, spare cards, the main lens 70-200 mm canon f2.8 lens and a 2 x extender, a wide angle lens normally the tokina 11-16mm f2.8, my canon 50mm f1.8 (plastic fantastic, nifty fifty), or my sigma 28- 105 mm f2.8 -4. Are my go to equipment to cover normal eventualities.Feedback
Advice is easy breathe, take your time and focus on one bird if there is multiple about like I had. If you focus on just the one gannet you have a better chance and yes it can be frustrating if the others are diving and the one you focus on isn't. However be patient and it will happen.
