Phalacrocorax carbo (Cormorant)

Phalacrocorax carbo (common name: Great black cormorant)

One day in the life of this magnificent bird: first diving for food and then flying to the next pond for another tasty meal or to a tree to rest and dry it's feathers.

Photos by Frank Panis

Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: AF-S VR 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED  + TC-17EII
Sensitivity: ISO 140-160
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/640s-1/800s - f4.8
Flash: none
Support: handheld
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon CNX 2.1.1

Black Cormorant II

The picture of those cormorants resting on a fishing boat was shot at Lake Volvi (N. Greece). The cormorants stayed there for hours, under the sun. Every now and then one would leave the boat make some dives and then come back to dry its plumage (seen in the bottom photo ). The cormorants will spend much time with their wings in the extended position, which is a characteristic of this species. I used a small aperture for the boat scene as I wanted to have the maximum depth of field and a larger one for the second photo to get a higher shutter speed needed to capture the movement of the wings.

Photos by George J. Reclos

Shooting Data:

(Top)
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/250 sec - f/14, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.

(Bottom)
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/640 sec - f/7.1, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized. These photographs have been oversharpened intentionally, to make the main subject more "visible".