My recent trip to the Falkland Islands provided a welcome opportunity to spend some quality time hanging with Al, as in Al.B.Tross, yes, lame gag and I’ve used it before…. Al of course is the Black-browed albatross, which nests on several of the Falkland Islands, my visit was to West Point Island. By February most of the chicks are well developed, some with their adult plumage starting to show through.
A chick in close up, it’s nice to get a good head angle, relatively clean background and a catch light in the eye.Feeding can be a messy business with the chick demanding food and the adult straining to regurgitate it.A wide-angle photo, achieving good separation between the main subject and the birds in the background is sometimes a challenge but worth being mindful of when taking the picture.A wide-angle lens and a low viewpoint were the keys to this image. The horizon line intersects with the body of the bird which I can tolerate, had the line intersected the neck, the image would have been destined for the bin.Albatross are remarkable and graceful fliers travelling enormous distances seemingly without effort, however, when approaching the nesting colony some adjustments can be required to effect a safe landing!The albatross use raised nests constructed from mud, some of these nests are used over several seasons.
Once again, I’ll point out that I currently have limited internet access so if it seems I’m ignoring people via social media, etc, I apologise. The images presented here have been fairly hurriedly processed on a laptop computer, not ideal, but hopefully, give readers some insight into the subject and some of the photographic considerations. ~KD.
