Say hello to “Frick and Frack”, the Razorbills twins. That’s Frick on the left.
And this guy was just “The Sentry” keeping an eye on all the goings on around the island.
And of course, the Razorbill Symphony needs it’s own “Conductor”.
These images were also made on our visit to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine back two weeks ago now. My how time flies! Once again, the trip was made with Bold Coast Tours out of Cutler, Maine which is a two hour drive from our vacation base in Bar Harbor. This was our second trip with Bold Coast. Captain Andy does a great job of not just getting us to the island but also providing all the background information needed. The man knows his birds.
Like the Puffin images below, these were made with my Canon 50D and 300mm f/2.8L IS lens, handheld.
If you have ever tried to shoot black and white birds or anything black and white for that matter, you know the challenges they present. Expose for the black and the whites are overexposed. Expose for the white and the blacks are underexposed. Getting the proper balance can be really difficult. Trying to pull out the dark eye from the dark head seemed to require exposing more for the dark areas (blacks) which left the white just a tad hot. I tried to correct the hot spots as best I could in post-processing.
Hope you enjoy the images.
I can see how they would be hart to soot, but you did a fantastic job! Beautiful birds!
Oh wow…That conductor!! Nicely done, of course!! on all of them!
I am so impressed I am speechless.
I especially like Frick and Frack! They seem to be posing for you. Love the lines, the simple colors, the repetition, the pose. the angle of view. Well done!
Hand held, wow! These are so great. What a treat of a lifetime to see these up close and personal.
These are wonderful Ed, I know how tough it is exposing for black and white, your arm must have been tired after holding the 300 2.8 !!
Love the bookends Frick and Frack!
You succeeded in photographing a difficult subject. I know exactly what you are talking about. I have not had many encounters with black bears, but they present much the same problem, although they are somewhat easier as they do not have the contrasting white areas that one must worry about.
Hi Ed,
Wow… I’m wordless… Fantastic!
Nice pics. It’s hard not to be jealous. It looks like you were there for the last sunny day, before the last 2 weeks of rain.
We were there the first day it started to rain. The trip out was calm, but is was quite choppy on the way back.
How long were you out on the island? We went with the group from Jonesport. We were only out there for about 1 hour, before they rounded us up to head back. (Part of that was the rapidly deteriorating conditions.) It was frustrating…I still had one memory card, that I had not filled!
Yes, we had a very nice day on the island and trips out and back. This time, we spend about two hours (probably more) on the island. It was a very leisurely trip. But I will tell you that weather and water do dictate whether you get off on the island and how long you stay.
We went with Bold Coast out of Cutler for the past two years. Last year we landed on the island but it was foggy (couldn’t see the boat from the island) and the seas soupy as Captain Andy would say. So our trip was cut short at about an hour. This year was clear and seas were very smooth. After we all returned from the blinds, we still spent some time hanging around the staging area chatting with the folks now working on the island as well as watching a helicopter crew work on some communication problems on island.
I was surprise to find when we got back to our base in Bar Harbor that I had only taken about 150 photos. After last year, I found I was much more selective in what I shot.