Theme - Dancing on Ice

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX
f/4 500mm
f/5.6
1/1600
ISO 1600

This is one from a while back which I reprocessed for this months theme....Two Black Headed Gulls in winter plumage having a squabble, who knows, maybe they were dancing :w3

Will

[Jonathan Ashton]

That is a real gem Will, the image looks spot on from a processing POV. Composition is fine - but would it look better a little less centred??

[William Dickson]

Thanks Jon...Move the birds to the left or right....I sort of took the comp from the wing tips on both birds...I got the impression that the bird on the ice was moving from right to left, so gave it more room to move into, if you get what I mean.

Will

[Brian Sump]

Will, this is a first-class shot. Fun, unique and well-exposed! The orange feet and beaks pop off of the correlating grays in the wings and ice.

I have no qualms with the positioning in this composition. You could always try a vertical to see how you like it but I get the illusion of the thirds rule here based on the vertical wing position of the left subject and lateral position of the right (i.e. comparatively more space left than right by a good bit, thus good with me).

If the shoreline were more subdued that's probably the only thing IMO that could improve it. But let me say I'd be stoked to have this in my files!

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that Brian....The shoreline is reeds on the opposite side of the loch, but yes, looking at it now I think it would be better toned down a wee bit.

Will

[Paul Burdett]

What a great action pose Will...beautifully processed. No nitpics from me.

[Brian Sump]

Thanks for that Brian....The shoreline is reeds on the opposite side of the loch, but yes, looking at it now I think it would be better toned down a wee bit.

Will

To clarify Will, not sure I would even touch it as it's a great frame. Was more a compositional comment as if you had an option, but clearly you captured the moment excellently and it's easily overlooked. Brilliant action!

Curious, were there more in the series?

[John Mack]

Great title. The interaction is very nice. Neat how the bottom bird is sitting on the ice like that.

[David Roach]

Very cool interaction with spot on EXP and details. Love pose on bothand touch of environment. TFS

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Amazing image, William. Outstanding action moment caught beautifully. The soft light is a plus and you handled the blacks and whites well. Like the frozen surface leading back through the dried reeds.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[gail bisson]

This is a fantastic behavioural image.
I love everything about it. Sharp, poses are great.
Too bad you were not lower to get the gulls against the yellow grasses. That would have been wow!
Well done,
Gail

[annmpacheco]

Such an interesting capture Will, well done! Yes, if you had been on the ice too BG would have been killer. Never the less, this is certainly a wonderful image.

[Arthur Morris]

Spectacular action, sharp, with a perfect exposure. And I love the soft light. And I love, love, love gulls!

Is this the full frame? I ask only because the two birds need to be to our left in the frame. There is actually less room behind the bird on our right than there is behind the bird on our left. It should have been the opposite ...

My wish was that the BKGR was all ice/no grass.

with love, artie

[William Dickson]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

Will

[William Dickson]

Spectacular action, sharp, with a perfect exposure. And I love the soft light. And I love, love, love gulls!

Is this the full frame? I ask only because the two birds need to be to our left in the frame. There is actually less room behind the bird on our right than there is behind the bird on our left. It should have been the opposite ...

My wish was that the BKGR was all ice/no grass.

with love, artie

Hi Artie....Not full frame.....Thanks for the advice regarding the position of the birds... I'll give it a go. The reason I cropped like this was because I got the impression that the lower bird was moving to our left.

Will

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty cool interaction frame, love the light, sharp and good details. the top part of the BG was a bit bad luck but a perfect capture otherwise.

TFS

[William Dickson]

pretty cool interaction frame, love the light, sharp and good details. the top part of the BG was a bit bad luck but a perfect capture otherwise.

TFS

Thanks for that Arash

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks, Bill. From where I sit, the overwhelming flow seems to be to our right ...

with love, artie