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Album: Saltee Islands - June '09

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Views:	4240
Date Taken:	2009-Jun-20 15:43
Date Uploaded:	2009-Jun-21 21:28

Gannet Colony

65 votes

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Comments

# by theonering on 2009-Jun-21

Another great shot - beautiful angle and well exposed photograph - theonering.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks a lot.

# by vlastik on 2009-Jun-22

This is fantastic Book cover or National Geographic stuff. Well done!

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Wow, thats very flattering, thank you.

# by morrisseeee on 2009-Jun-22

Stunner, very eye-catching !

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks man.

# by Trishw78 on 2009-Jun-22

Looks like you had a great day shooting. Love the gannets agains a clear blue sky

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks Trish, it turned out to be a fantastic day. And thanks for the CF, it got filled very quickly, along with plenty others.

# by Paul Taylor on 2009-Jun-22

Brilliant composition.

# by Louise on 2009-Jun-22

Superb shot, love everything about it.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-22

Hi Mick, were you there on saturday? so was i. What time did you sail over at maybe we bumped into each other. Great pics, you processed and uploaded them fast i still have to take them off the camera.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks Daniel, we got the boat over at about 11ish and headed back at around half 4. It was a glorious day wasn't it? We must have crossed paths at some stage. Were you with a girl by any chance?

# by twixie on 2009-Jun-22

You've been Twittered: http://twitter.com/pixie/statuses/2277230422

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Oh wow! A TOTD, thank you very much, thats fantastic. I really appreciate it.

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jun-22

WOW.

What a shot.

Congrats Michael.

# by MikeyP on 2009-Jun-22

great timing

# by DecisiveMoment on 2009-Jun-22

It's the exposure that makes this great for me - blue sky, detail in the shadow.

# by dakar on 2009-Jun-22

Stunning.

# by Valentia on 2009-Jun-22

Fantastic shot!!

# by sinead on 2009-Jun-22

yep - really lovely :)

# by jackie on 2009-Jun-22

Wow, great shot

# by Hazel on 2009-Jun-22

wow!

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks everyone for the nice comments, its really appreciated. It was a beautiful day as you can see from the sky and the birds were there in numbers. As one of the guys with us said "it was like shooting fish in a barrel" :)

# by vlastik on 2009-Jun-22

Let me know next time you are going there, please.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-22

I was yes i was in the mr tickles teeshirt and with my girlfriend in the purple top. who were you with? any distinctive clothing i'd remember you by. Thats a small world after we talking over your other photos before.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Nothing distinctive on me I'm afraid, just black t-shirt and jeans. Was there with about 7 guys from my camera club. We had a fantastic day and everyone got great shots.

Looking forward to seeing yours when you sort through them. I took over 1000 shots on Saturday so I've only gone through a fraction of them so far.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-22

Think i ran into you at the gannet colony and a little further after that. perhaps with two lads taking pictures of puffins on the cliff edge a little further on from the colony. Yeah i took 1029 pics dude, i've been afraid to go near them lol.. I'll prob try sort the first 50 or so tonight. I'll probably delete 900 of them anyway.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-23

I like your new Puffin avatar. Mine is like that over on PI. Ha Ha.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-23

Thanks :) What's PI?

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-23

Photography Ireland http://www.photographyireland.net/index.php

You should sign up dude!

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-23

sure i might do that after work allright. Whats you alias on it dude?

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-23

MickS - Simple as that. Only signed up myself a week or so ago.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-23

cool as i said i'll sign up after work

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jun-22

Magical! Congrats.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thank you.

# by EDWARDDULLARD [Deleted] on 2009-Jun-22

The best i've seen in a long time, well done!

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks Edward, thats a very nice thing to say. I'm very flattered by all the attention this shot got. Didn't expect this at all.

# by galwaybaycollection on 2009-Jun-22

Beautiful shot -

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thank you lofrell. :)

# by Aidan18 on 2009-Jun-22

very good photograph congrats on the totd.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks Aiden.

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jun-22

We've all seen the same shots coming out of the Saltees every year, but this one ticks all the right boxes. Well done, a masterpiece!

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks very much TownieLee, ery kind words indeed.

# by derekmcauley on 2009-Jun-22

this is brilliant well done gret capture

contrats on totd

voted

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks very much Derek, appreciate the nice comment and the vote!

# by trisha on 2009-Jun-22

Great shot, well done !

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks very much Trisha

# by DarrenG on 2009-Jun-22

Wow, Wow Wow!!

I like this, a lot.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-22

Thanks Darren, appreciate the comment dude!

# by FINCH on 2009-Jun-22

Thats a really fine shot, well done

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-23

Thanks a million Conor.

# by very snappy on 2009-Jun-23

wonderfull album, must have been such fun to do

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-24

Absolutely brilliant fun, it was the best day of my life from a photography point of veiw, I just loved the Saltee Islands. So much so, I think I'm going to go again in a week or 2.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-24

If you are keep me informed will ya, i wouldn't mind popping back there again too, that is if i could grab a lift off ya ;)

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-24

No worries dude, I'll keep ya posted.

# by galwaybaycollection on 2009-Jun-24

Looks like your Gannet Colony is a real winner , well done again.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-24

Thanks,I certainly wasn't expecting it so it was anice surprise. Problem is now, how can I top it? lol

# by Kathleen on 2009-Jun-24

Nothing left for me to add I'm afraid...

So: All of the above :-)

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-24

Thanks again Kathleen, I really do appreciate the comments. :)

# by NIKONDAVE on 2009-Jun-24

Absolutely a standout image, hard to add to whats been said, very well captured congrats best shot i've seen in a long time.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-24

Thanks very much Dave, your too kind man. :)

# by michaeldunphy on 2009-Jun-25

Is this a photoshop job, or straight from the camera? Looks very strange

# by michaeldunphy on 2009-Jun-25

What club were you out there with?

# by tannery on 2009-Jun-25

Think i saw this shot on a camera club website with only one gannet in the shot flying...might be wrong but mabye the photographer could confirm or not.

# by DMULL on 2009-Jun-25

what a cracking shot

hand this on your wall, really fantastic!

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-25

Thanks a million. I am actually going to get this one printed. :)

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-25

Ok, apparently using Photoshop in photography is an issue for somebody?

I find it very unusual that 3 people (apparently) sign up for brand new accounts on pix.ie, then within moments of signing up post a comment on this shot. No other comments on pix.ie, no pictures uploaded, just on this. A bit of a coincidence I presume lads???

# by galwaybaycollection on 2009-Jun-25

Sometimes other people get a kick out of putting others down even though it's nitpicking, clutching at straws, whatever .

Continue with your passion - you are a great creator of beautiful photographs - thats my opinion anyway.

Well done !

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-25

Thanks very much for the vote of confidance lofarell, I appreciate it.

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jun-25

The prez of The Irish Photographic Federation says people either photograph for technical excellence or artistic expression. So anything that is or may be done to enhance artistic expression is acceptable (as long as it's done skillfully) even including Fellowship level panels.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-25

Thanks for the interesting info Karen, I didn't know that.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-25

In this shot http://pix.ie/lifebythedrop/1003835/in/album/341903 there was a clear blue sky, and there was no light on in the lighthouse.

Do some people think Waterford turns purple when the sun goes down? http://pix.ie/lifebythedrop/1028169/in/album/345058 (Twittered)

http://pix.ie/lifebythedrop/album/338017 the same 2 shots, only one of them magically turned a nice shade of purple (also Twittered)

I'm gonna drop a bombshell here lads (or more likely, lad) michaeldunphy(?), ryan323(?) and tannery(?)... It was all done in Photoshop! (Shock, horror!)

# by brownie on 2009-Jun-25

Mick...Noel here from Waterford Camera Club...its a great image but as you told us on our site its one that came together from several photos...obviously its upset a few people but what i think is wrong is the fact that lots of people think its a one-off shot...which it is'nt...and you told us so...its still a great image and worthy of all the great comments given but what would people have said if they knew its origins...i'm on Pix a lot and always check the newest photos...recognised this straightaway even under a different name...well done anyway but !!!

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-26

No Noel, lets not lose sight of the fact that it upset 1 person, so much so infact that they very childishly created 3 accounts to get their point across which is a little sad tbh. Someone who looks at the Waterford CC website also? Very strange. Anyway, back to the picture and photoshop, I understand what your saying but don't entirely agree with you. For example, have you never posted a shot where you've cloned something ugly out or added something in and did you state in the description "cloned out telegraph pole" or something? Everything I know about PS I learned in Waterford Camera Club from Terry (add a sheep or 2 here, A couple holding hands there, the odd sky here, a tree there...) etc. The fact of the matter is I asked Thomas for a loan of his 17-40 because I had an idea for a shot, it was me who got down low on my knee's in bird sh*t to get the low angle, I took the photos of everything you see in the picture so its all my vision and creation. I know the point your making is that I should have stated that I manipulated it somehow in ps, but like I said earlier, who states when they post an image on here that the cloned this out or added this in, they just post their work and it is what it is.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-25

Lads could we not slate what is an impressively good photograph with loads of comments. The photographer never denied in his comments it was photoshopped so why make this a big issue, my portfolio on pix is full of photoshopped stuff, :O*(shock horror), albeit the majority are only saturation levels mixed etc, but i have a few where there was no moon in hte sky but the clouds looked like they needed a moon so i put it in.

Regardless of it, nice work mick, it looks well and i'd agree with you about getting it printed, it's a nice photograph. :) keep up the good work.

# by galwaybaycollection on 2009-Jun-26

Hold on a second ,

creators of art (photography is art) have an artistic licence !

Am I correct in this or has that licence been revoked ?

I dont think so, yes it still exists and therefore LifeByTheDrop is using his artistic licence - How ?

By creating an image to be seen and enjoyed by whoever chooses to see and enjoy.

Simple as that !

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jun-26

Without the extra birds, it could end up being a more bland shot. Sometimes I think wildlife photograpy is too much about the hunt and not enough about the aesthetics.

# by brownie on 2009-Jun-26

Daniel...I nver denied that it was'nt a good shot and as for slating it...get real and READ what i said...and as for saying in your post that he never denied it was photoshopped...he never said it was either...its a very well done shot but again what i am saying is that from a lot of the posts and also the amount of votes he got , people obviously thought that it was a one-off shot and if it had been....then it would be great...Lofarell...of course we all have artistic licence..HDR and the like and obviously we all do a bit of this and that but the reason i commented at all is because on our website at Waterford Camera Club the photographer said it was a few shots put together...dont get upset at me for stating a fact and if you want to look at our site just visit us at www.waterfordcameraclub.com and have a look yourself.The photo is a lovely shot but as artistic licence goes...adding in birds...well, I do'nt Know.

# by Dan on 2009-Jun-26

@brownie - my comments were not directed at you my good man :)

there seems to be some confusion, it was aimed at the three shill accounts :)

# by michaeldunphy on 2009-Jun-26

Maybe when you said " can i do better next time" you should have meant. Can i get a better shot out of my next 20 shots

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-26

Ah get a life for yourself and stop being so bitter! I hope you don't choke on those sour grapes!

Oh my God, more Shock Horror, look at todays TOTD. How many shots make up this one: http://pix.ie/anita/1072629?#Comment381901

# by Astrobotty on 2009-Jun-26

beautiful creation!

it is that simple :)

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-26

Thanks Oisin.

# by brownie on 2009-Jun-26

It is a great creation and of course it will probably win competitions in the future...so well done... but mabye people should get off their high horses at this stage and give it all a rest.

# by jennyrusks on 2009-Jun-26

I love the picture.

Who cares if it was made up of a number of shots? They were all taken by LifeByTheDrop and put together by him so the complete work of art is his.

You can put whatever you want on pix.ie, can't you?

# by Marcus on 2009-Jun-26

Yes you can... :)

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jun-26

Regardless of how many shots are used to create this shot, it's a superb photograph. Whether it looks like one shot or a more is irrelevant. The important thing for me is that I liked it when I saw it for the 1st time. It doesn't bother me that it's made up fo 2,3 or 23 images. The photograph has achieved the desired effect - the viewer [me] likes it.

Well done with the image & keep them coming.

# by darraghdoyle on 2009-Jun-26

Just to throw my oar in here - fantastcic photoshopping skills here sir. Made a great photo and ultimately it's up to the beholder to see the beauty. It's one I'd happily have as a print or wallpaper or whatever. Well done on both photo and work on it :)

# by McAWilliams on 2009-Jun-26

I dont know of any photographer these days in the digital domain for sure that does not do some sort of photoshopping, if you can figure out a way to improve a shot I am a true advocate of go for it!!!

This photograph or montage or copy and pastes is brilliant, well thought out and well executed. This kinda explains to me why I am so adamant about not joining a camera club, to fecking anal for their own good.

Well done Lifebythedrop

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jun-26

Camera clubs and the IPF are actually quite liberal about manipulation. But it is the specialty area of wildlife and nature photography that conservateively dictates its own goals and rules. They don't consider telphone pole removal as dishonest because there is no false belief involved, but they do when it comes to placing a living thing/s in areas of the picture when they really weren't there, but making people believe they were. I personally don't like their rule precluding a manmade object in a nature pic, because I love photograhing man made objects, so I don't concern myself with what they think.

Once again, this pic is the one that photographers can't seem to get during their outing to the Saltees and does make the Saltees a lot more inviting and special and will "manipulate" more photographers to go there. It's a magnificent image. So, well done, LBTD.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-27

Thanks guys and girls, I really appreciate all the supportive comments. Maybe in future I'll state in the description if I've altered the shot with Photoshop in anyway.

Thanks again all,

Mick

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jun-27

No need to do that at all Mick.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-27

Thanks Shane

# by dakar on 2009-Jun-27

Didn't cop on originally, until I noticed this guy, and when I did realise it was a carefully crafted composite, did it bother me? Nope, I stand by my original comment that it's a stunning image.

All of my shots are altered in PS or LR in some way. Ok, this one is altered a lot more, but so what? Keep them coming.

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-27

Thanks very much Darren, thats a very nice thing to say. And wow! Well done spotting the bird.

I'm half thinking of posting a new album with this finished version, the original photo and the shots of the individual birds.

# by arthur on 2009-Jun-30

brilliant photo,no matter how it was created,an artist puts what they want in a picture,so why not in a photo.well done..

# by MickS on 2009-Jun-30

Thanks Fonz, deadly name btw!!!!

# by cgeneramos on 2009-Jul-01

This is a perfect shot for me..

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-01

Thanks a lot.

# by IceHeart on 2009-Jul-04

Great shot!

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-04

Thanks a lot IceHeart.

# by Olenka8 on 2009-Jul-09

i just have to add my comment here as this is an amazing shot!

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-09

lol, Thanks Olenka!! :)

# by ronanbree on 2009-Jul-12

class shot, amazing life in it. Love it, 5/5

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-12

Thanks Ronan. Much appreciated.

# by PunkRock on 2009-Jul-13

I'm not commenting as it took me 30 mins to scroll down the list and I want to think of future generations.

ps 5/5

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-13

lol :-)

Thanks Janer!!!

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jul-15

Wow! 40 votes already! Congrats! What is the record for most votes for an image? (If you don't know LBTD, somebody will!)

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jul-15

Not sure what the record is, but here's one with 66 votes. http://pix.ie/trogdor/340288

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-15

Thats a super shot, make that 67 votes.

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jul-15

You're on the top of page 2 of the most popular pix.ie images of all time. Congrats. http://pix.ie/explore/photos/top/page/2

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-15

Thanks Shane, due in no small part to controversy no doubt!!!

Wonder what the record is for most comments on a shot? lol

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jul-15

Not too sure about that. You'll have to ask Marcus on that one.

;-)

# by TownieLee on 2009-Jul-15

You earned the votes/praise from this feel good image; not the small controversy.

# by Shane Murphy on 2009-Jul-15

Would have to agree with you Karen.

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-15

Thanks guys, I appreciate that.

# by johnkav on 2009-Jul-17

wow,thats deadly

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-17

Thanks very much John, I appreciate the comment.

# by trooney on 2009-Jul-30

Meh, its alright... better if there was more blood. Only kidding Mick, its a great shot altogether. **** the detractors.

# by MickS on 2009-Jul-30

Thanks very much man!!!

# by galwaybaycollection on 2009-Jul-30

Language Timothy !

# by pullandbang on 2009-Sep-30

Mick it's a super shot. It's typical of what would happen in a colony and you've presented an image that would rarely be seen by humans. Fair play to you and it looks fantastic - which is what it's supposed to do.

# by MickS on 2009-Sep-30

Thanks very much, kind words indeed.

Mick.

# by Focused on 2009-Oct-09

That's super-duper Micks!

# by MickS on 2009-Oct-13

Thanks a lot Focused, much appreciated.

# by summerhead on 2009-Nov-05

What's Photoshop? Only kiddin' . Keep goin' at this. It's great. Isnt creativity part of the buzz?

# by MickS on 2009-Nov-05

Totally.................... :)

And Thank You!!

# by TownieLee on 2009-Nov-05

50 Votes! Must be a near pixie record breaker!

# by MickS on 2009-Nov-14

Ha Ha, don't know about that Karen.

Think this is the winner though: http://pix.ie/trogdor/340288 Can't find any with more than 71.

Mick.

# by SusieQue on 2009-Dec-27

WOW!! Great shot! and WOW!! can't believe all those comments about PS!!! Who cares! Its an amazing shot that benefited from PS. I don't have a clue about PS yet but do intend on learning & using it to enhance my images where necessary.

Anyway, I love this & keep being creative because it gives someone like me(quite new to all of this) plenty of ideas & inspiration!!!

Keep up the great work :-)

Susie

# by MickS on 2009-Dec-27

Wow, thank you for such a lovely comment Susie, very much appreciated.

It was quite an interesting couple of days that followed when I posted this, what with all the bickering here and PM's I was getting on other sites. All very entertaining though. lol.

Thank You again.

Mick

# by SusieQue on 2009-Dec-27

You're very welcome Mick!! Love the result, don't care how you got there!

Keep 'em comin!!

Susie :-)

# by teegee on 2009-Dec-27

What's the point in Photoshop if you don't use it? Doesn't devalue the original image. This is a fantastic shot - as the votes show. Another vote added :)

# by MickS on 2009-Dec-27

Thank you Pam.

Mick :-)

# by aafke on 2010-Jan-01

oops, that;s not too bad is it.... shortlisted for pixie's 09?

# by PQuigley on 2010-Feb-14

great shot mick !

# by MickS on 2010-Feb-24

Thanks very much, appreciate the nice comment.

Mick

# by Allsorts on 2010-May-12

Another WOW WOW simply

# by BuzzLightyear on 2010-Jun-10

Jeez Mick, You didn't half stir up a bowl of sh1t3 LOL

Really a great image (couldn't use the word shot, now could we ;-)

The fact that PS was used - so what, you achieved the image you had in your mind. Even in film, composites are being used to generate fantastic images.

So thumbs up. Fantastic image. Gets that WOW factor.

# by MickS on 2010-Jun-19

Philip, thats such a nice comment man, thanks very much.

I kove this shot myself but all that sh*t last year left a bad taste in my mouth over it, thats why I tried to recreate it this year "in camera".

Thanks again for the encouraging comment.

Mick

# by hazeline on 2010-Jun-10

wow people really do get their backs up over photoshop these days.

Personally i love it and it helps me create the images i see in my head that are not actually physically possible straight out of camera.Photoshop haters are generally the ones who have no idea how to use it so they fear it!

keep up the great work. the only thing i'd suggest is to brighten the bottom half of the pic with the gannets on the rock to even out the light in the image.

# by MickS on 2010-Jun-19

Thanks very much for your lovely comment Hazel, its very much appreciated. And thanks also for the good suggestion.

Mick