Bonaparte's Gull

[David Salem]

Captured this at a local wildlife reserve yesterday. Went out to look for harriers but when I got to the ponds I found that a big flock of what I thought were some kind of terns were there.
They were in full feeding mode and were zipping around the water and then shooting up and catching flying insects in the air. I had a great time shooting these guys and they were a real challenge.
Not only were they fast but they were a technical nightmare. An almost totally white bird flying over water, sky and varied BGs. They have very soft feathers around there head and neck like a dove.
Not until my drive home did I find out on Ibirds Pro that they were non breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gulls. The breeding adults look awesome with a black head. Hope to see one.

1DMKIV---700mm---f5.6---ss1/3200---ISO800---HH@3:30pm---20%crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. Appreciated.

David


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[Randy Stout]

David:

Excellent pose, and the angle in the frame gives a good view of both wings, I like the soft rippled BG.

I appreciate the soft feathers, but do feel that there is some loss of detail in the feathers on the body. Perhaps backing down the exposure a bit, particularly on the white and highlight slider may reveal a bit more detail there. If you have Nik Color Efex Pro, the detail extractor may also help pull out a bit more from those feathers, but I would try the exposure changes first.

Cheers

Randy

[Satish Ranadive]

David:
I love the way bird is popping up against beautiful BG. Very nice exposure,great pose with nice wing position.
Well done.

Regards,
Satish.

[Bill Dix]

Hi David. Lovely shot of a Bonaparte's. This captures the silky softness of these sweet little gulls. Beautiful light and pose. Randy is probably right that a little more detail could be tweaked from this, but just a bit because the soft look is very appealing. Sometimes I find that just a few points on the 'highlights' slider of the s/h tool will pull out a little detail, but you probably knew that.

[Shawn Zierman]

First congrats...I don't think Bonaparte's gulls are all that common out in California.
I think this a dandy image of this species, captured in great light quality. IMO, this
species can be quite tricky to capture in flight, as they can be very tern like in flight
when foraging, wheeling about, turning on a dime....I also love the calls of this gull
species, toy like, and not at all unappealing....Brilliant image sir.

[David Salem]

Thanks for the input everyone. Here is a re-post with the highlights backed off a bit more. I toned down the highlights a little on the OP but maybe not enough. This is as good as it gets. What do you think?

[Petros Petrou]

Very nice image. Lots of detail on the bird, great light and a nice soft BG. The repost is even better. TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, great flight posture with the raised wings, and well placed in the frame too. Although gulls are considered common around water or wetlands, I still love to capture them as you have done.

Here is a quick 5 min version from me, as I feel your repost is too 'yellow'. I could be totally wrong as you were there, so please be free to tell me so. :w3 but I desaturated the yellow channel ( I realise I included the edge of the wing which should have remained with some colour ) I did use a 9% detail extractor on the lower body only.

[David Salem]

Stuart, thanks allot for spending time on my image. Looks great and I can see that the Nik detail extractor made a bit of difference. I need to order that software, seems to be popular. As far as the color goes the gulls that I was shooting had a little more cream color to them, not solid white. I think when I reduced the highlights it did yellow it a little. Actual color is probably between my re-post and yours. Thanks again. Appreciated.

[Melissa Groo]

Lovely flight image, David, super wing position and angle towards the camera. I can see a version between yours and Stuart's, as you say, in terms of the yellow tone. I would also maybe do a bit of a clone job on the one small white spot on the base of the left wing edge. But a super flight shot of this Bonaparte's, well done.

[Greg Oakley]

Great shot David - and Stuart's re-post has improved it further - well done,
Cheers Greg

[John Cooper]

A great flight capture David with pleaseing eye-level perspective. I think Stuart's repost has enhanced your image very well - I'm thinking now I need that software..!!

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
I really like the flight angle and pose. Great background and exposed very well.
I think somewhere between your repost and Stuart's would be nice.
Well done.