[Leica] Sea Birds

[Jayanand Govindaraj]

Ric, Bernard, Jim N, Brian, Douglas B, Don D

Thanks for looking.

Most of these are shot from the lowest deck at the back, i.e. the zodiac
boarding area. The seas were high on our way to South Georgia, as we were
negotiating the tail end of a cyclonic storm. The first couple of days out
of Ushuaia, we were not even allowed on deck. Thankfully, I do not get
seasick very easily, it seems!

Stabilization is pointless in photographing birds from a pitching ship, as
the subjects are zipping around at speed, and in camera stabilization is
thoroughly useless against fast moving subjects. What is required is high
shutter speeds - at least 1/2000s - and stabilization switched off, because
having it on slows down the camera, as it has to stabilize every shot
before triggering the shutter. The other useful features are a high FPS and
a big buffer!

In my view, stabilization is useful only when photographing stationary
subjects in dodgy light. Otherwise, a high shutter speed solves all
problems - I do not mind shooting wide open to achieve it. As I always try
to capture animals/birds in action and doing something, I seldom use
stabilization for wildlife.

Cheers
Jayanand

On Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 5:36 AM Don Dory via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

> Your images are excellent.  I will say that some of the ocean swells would
> make some sort of image stabilization mandatory while you were on the ship.
>
> On Sat, Nov 23, 2019 at 10:21 PM Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG <
> lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
>
> > The next installment of photographs from my South Georgia trip is of
> birds,
> > mostly sea birds, to be exact, the Albatross and Petrels that roam our
> > oceans. Most of the photographs, except for the last four, have been
> taken
> > from the boat.
> >
> > Let us start with the king of the oceans, the Wandering Albatross. These
> > are quite remarkable birds, they have been known to fly over 100k km in a
> > year, they seldom touch the ground except to breed, and they have the
> > longest wingspan of any bird - 2.5 to 3.5 metres, as can be seen from
> this
> > photograph (natural sky, not replaced!!!😊)
> >
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191012-16833.jpg.html
> >
> > The most common albatross in this region is the Black-browed Albatross,
> > which can be seen quite easily, and nest in large numbers both in South
> > Georgia and more so in the Falklands:
> >
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191013-124.jpg.html
> >
> > Petrels are the scavengers of the oceans. Here are two of the smaller
> ones:
> >
> > Cape Petrel:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191012-16700.jpg.html
> >
> > Snowy Petrel:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191023-6831.jpg.html
> >
> > The most common large bird that we encounter in the open ocean, and on
> > shore in South Georgia is the Giant Petrel, a formidable and rapacious
> > predator and scavenger, so it is not unusual to have more interesting
> > photographs of this species over any other:
> >
> > Metallic Seas:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191022-5620.jpg.html
> >
> > Sunset:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191022-5876.jpg.html
> >
> > High Seas:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191012-106.jpg.html
> >
> > Take Off:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191022-5221.jpg.html
> >
> > Wingspan:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191015-450.jpg.html
> >
> > Bath Time:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191024-10345.jpg.html
> >
> > The last two photographs are of common species on shore:
> >
> > Kelp Gull:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191022-4905.jpg.html
> >
> > Skua:
> >
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191022-5293.jpg.html
> >
> > Please see LARGE.
> >
> > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Jayanand
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>
> --
> Don
> don.dory at gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information