Herring Gull

[Iain Barker]

I took this shot of a Herring Gull in St Ives harbor some time ago. I have always been unsure about the composition and am keen to know what other think about this picture.

Nikon D80 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 g @ 70mm 1/80 f16 IS0 100

[Toan Huynh]

From this direction the Gull looks like a enormous bird

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

To me the comp is pretty out of the box but I really like that. I think it would be more powerful if you had shot the bird more off centered the right of the frame. It is a very unique and interesting image IMO

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Iain,

I love what you are trying to do here...really like the concept. I really appreciate unique composition and framing. In the image consider these options. I would level and reduce the size of the perch and do something to distinguish the subjects head from the clouds. Maybe work the colors of the bird's beak and the blue in the sky..play with saturation and curves to add more pop to the image.

A faster shutter would help capture more feather detail in the head area. Regarding exposure techs...consider a narrower aperture f/10 with a faster shutter next time. Remember detail is important and as a genera rule we try and keep the shutter high...which means increase the ISO (400) with a smaller aperture (f/8) producing more shutter speed...detail, detail, detail!!!

This is great shot...you have a creative eye...keep em coming.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian some good advice give above. Just take a shot and look at the Histogram, you want a nice spread across which mean you are capturing all the information available, but ensure you done clip things, or blow highlights. the more info recorded the better your image will be.

With regard to the comp, I think the subject would sit better overall if it was to the right side of the dividing line of the wall, however saying that the Gull would be more in the white of the cloud, so moving the camera to the left would have been the easiest. I would add a Luminosity adjustment layer to the area above the wall so both the Gull & sky punches up more and then adding a Curves adjustment to the mid tone to help pull a bit more definition out of the subject. I think both Jeff & I are singing from the same hymn sheet on this one.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Iain Barker]

Thank you for the comments everyone.

Jeff & Steve, with Steve's repost I can see how the changes you are both suggesting would improve the image. This is a big help to me as I am new to the processing side and think I am a little over cautious with the adjustments I make. I will have a go at making similar adjustments to my original image. Steve thanks for taking the time to make some adjustments and reposting.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian, glad you like it, I often feel that in making suggestions, refinements, or changes in terms of feedback it's quite helpful to also see an image to accompany the reply, as it bolsters and I trust clarifies, the feedback for the member. Good luck, but please take Jeffs comments on board too, as they are key to nailing your images and obtaining good IQ to work with.

[Iain Barker]

I have straightened the wall using crop rotate witch also reduced it in size. I then adjusted the level in Lightroom slightly and then tried using a curves adjustment layer in Photoshop on just the bird.
I think my image is an improvement on my original but please let me know what you think.

I can see how I could have improved the picture by a slight change of position when taking the shot. Thanks again to Steve and Jeff with their help on this post.

[Julian Mole]

Hi Iain,

I like the quirky feel and unusual perspective of the original but like the others felt there was potential to improve it. So here's a repost, I have rotated and cropped the image to bring about an improvement in compostion (placement of head and made the wall a diagonal), I also dodged the wall to bring out a bit of detail and burnt the whites of the gulls head to darken it slighty, lastly I added a little saturation.

Let me know what you think! :-)