Thursday, May 15, 2008

Sky Watch Friday VII

Long-tailed Jaeger having fun.

Photograph taken on the tundra of the North Slope in Alaska.

Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)
(Click to see more detail in the silhouette)

We were about 10 miles from the Arctic Ocean when we noticed a storm approaching. The jaegers were diving, swooping and just having fun on the approaching winds. Storms are interesting in the summer in the Arctic. This makes for some great skies.

Martha watched the jaegers while I made camera adjustments.
In order to capture this photograph, I set my camera on 1000 ISO, f16, and manual focus.

I wanted a deep depth-of-field to show the clouds. I waited until the bird came around and used follow-focus on the bird. When he was against the right background, I snapped the photo. The long central tail feathers are visible in the enlarged photo (click to see).

There were only two adjustments to the photo that I had to make.

I used “Neat Image Pro” to remove the grain (noise) due to the high ISO.
and
I adjusted levels in Photoshop.

Note: We saw all three U.S. Jaegers that day. Wheee-hooo.

To play Sky Watch Friday visit Wiggers World.

Troy and Martha

80 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your todays photo is so amazing. At firts glance it's like some fine artist who loves nature painted a special drawing for when, but only then (and foolish me) I got it ... you are two true artists with a camera!

Anonymous said...

Very nice picture.

Marie said...

Very nice!

imac said...

Fantastic shot and well captured.


my double reflection is now up please feel free to visit-thanks.

Rune Eide said...

A nice catch - thank you for the photographic information. All such is of value.

Tom said...

What a great sky shot this is, I now have to make a note to find out just what these birds look like

Thank you for joining in SW again.. I hope you get many visits to see such a picture.
Tom

Anonymous said...

Wow. The enlarged view is fantastic. Nice photograph.

***Fotografia e Luz*** said...

beautiful photo with that this beautiful bird

Anonymous said...

Fabulous. What an amazing sky you captured. And the bird too!

Voz do meu Coração said...

very, very nice.

Texas Travelers said...

I have to go to work now. I will be back and check everyone's Sky Watch later.

Troy

Rose said...

That is one heck of a photo! I am so glad you posted it for us to see.

Unknown said...

Great catch Troy!

Anne said...

Really really nice picture. A great shot !!

And some say... free as the bird... it can be seeen in this picture.

Nice weekend to you from Norway.

Carletta said...

Stunning capture!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Troy: Nicely done on a bird I've never heard of. The sky does look stormy.

SandyCarlson said...

That is pure liquid magic!

Daniel J Santos said...

fantastic image, excellent.

Quiet Paths said...

Fantastic. When was this taken?

Michele said...

Fantastic... you are an artist! That capture is amazing!

Karuema said...

this is realli so so beautiful - and little bit sceary...because the bird and feeling of storm...but beautiful

Angie said...

Superb picture.

Anonymous said...

Very well done. I hope to get to see some Jaegers in the next couple of weeks as I'm hoping to get out to the Floe Edge.

And, is it Friday already in Texas? It is still Thursday up here.

Carole said...

This is an incredible shot.

LiseH said...

Very, very beautiful!!

Petunia said...

Love this silhouette shot:)

Petunia's SWF

Nova said...

that's pretty amazing, it looks like that clouds were that mad/ heavy that wanting to sprinkle the water into earth.. and for that bird?

hopefully that it wont be hit by lightnings..

check out mine here:

http://www.supernovachron.com/2008/05/friday-sky-watch-peak-of-mt-matutum.html

Neal said...

That is an amazing photo!!!

dot said...

Very nice. Amazing what you can do if you know how.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and special sky shot.
Congratulations.

Barbara said...

Super photo the Jaeger is very sharp.

david mcmahon said...

That's a top shot.

Ví Leardi said...

This is awsome it really looks like a painting...very good

Sharon said...

Wonderful! I love this. I like the info on how to get rid of the unwanted "noise."

Cape Cod Washashore said...

That photo is absolutely, without a doubt, SURREAL! Fabulous shot!!!

Pernille said...

Fantastic shot. Love the bird in the sky:)

Scotty Graham said...

Love it, Troy...can't beat dark, stormy clouds!!

MamaFlo said...

This takes me breath away!

Sunshinelene said...

great shot plus the artistic artist in you - the picture turned out so beautiful!

Anonymous said...

wow...amazing.

Hope you visit mine too Thanks

Juliana RW said...

fantastic shot.....

Will you visit mine Thanks

Cláudia said...

Beautiful grey sky shot! The bird is fantastic!

Marvin said...

With my slow dial up, I don't normally load the full-sized photo, but I did in this case. It's a great photo.

CloudStalker said...

absolutely stunning! Bravo!!!

Pat - Arkansas said...

Aaahhh! A beautiful photo of an amazing sky and fascinating bird.

Neva said...

Thanks for sharing how you did this...I I love to try and learn how to use my nice camera.....I love the picture you got.

Kim said...

Wow, great photo. You did a wonderful job with it.

Suzi-k said...

What a wonderful way to start my day, looking at an image like this!Such a graceful bird, and set against those brooding dramatic clouds, this is a wonderful shot, thanks!

Unknown said...

I love the drama of your photo - absolutely stunning.

Gary

Anonymous said...

fantastic capture. well done

Louis la Vache said...

"Louis" checking in here to see what his Texas friends have done for Sky Watch!

Duncan said...

Great program Neat Image, use it myself Troy.

Debbie said...

This almost doesn't seem real! It is gorgeous and wonderfully done!

Andrea said...

Perfect shot to capture the bird.

Pappy said...

What a day. Momma Jaeger, Pappa Jaeger, and Little Baby Jaeger. All three in one day. Oh, that's not the Jaeger's you meant? Another fractured fairy tale.

Janet said...

What an amazing, dramatic photograph! Don't see many from this close to the Arctic Circle.

Daryl said...

Wheee hoo indeed ... so is Alaska really bigger than Texas or it is just a rumor?

:-Daryl

Melli said...

Wow! You really know your way around a camera! And thank goodness! That sky is incredible!!! Those clouds! BEAUTIFUL!

Kathie Brown said...

Great shot Troy. I may be able to use this info to photograph a nighthawk. They move so quickly and fly in the low light of dusk. Another great Skywatch photo! And all 3 jagers? I'm jealous! I almost did a bird shot this week but I had already developed another idea. Next week instead!

Profile Not Available said...

The sky was beautiful, and post a terrific read as always. I have never seen this bird before. I have to go look up more about it. You captured it perfectly!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Really great as always.

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hello! Wonderful photo. I love the clouds and you framed the bird quite lovely. Lisa

naturglede/Randi Lind said...

It was a very spesial picture, like a dream. Have a nice day:)

D Herrod said...

cool shot

Amila Salgado said...

Hi Troy and Martha,
It is a nice capture and sounds like you've had a productive day sea watching.

Thanks for participating in the IATB # 75 as well and for commenting on my blog.

I too have removed word verification.

Wendy said...

Stunning clouds... just breathtaking!
Hope you can visit mine too.

Travis said...

The contrast of colors in this photo are simply amazing. Very good picture. I would have loved to hae been there.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow I am so envious. You shot this in the part of the world that I want to go to : the only part! The bird is magnificent. The sky magnificent.

Unknown said...

Beautiful shot, guys. It's very mesmerizing to me.

Linda said...

Great picture

chanpheng said...

Amazing photo today. I like your other Alaska photos too.

My Skywatch this week is some of the sights along the drive between southern Laos and Vientiane. Quite a different set of landscapes!

Jules said...

That was a really nice post Troy.

Dick said...

Wow, this is a very nice picture, it makes me feel Peter Pan. Great job.

Anonymous said...

What, did you leave to fly along with him? Great stuff.

EG CameraGirl said...

Super photo!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous photo!

Louis la Vache said...

Marvelous shot of that bird!

Dewdrop said...

Spectacular. I love the capture... layed clouds and the bird... cool.

I appreciate your compliment and have found your travel blog very interesting. My bf and I dream of traveling one day... even talking about retiring into an rv. :O)

Stacey Olson said...

Great skywatch post.. good job on this photo, you put alot of work in to it..thanks

Diederick Wijmans said...

While going through your photos, I saw this one! Perfect...! I really like this one too!