BHG on ICE

[William Dickson]

Canon R6
f/4 400mm DO Mk2
f/4
1/3200
ISO 2000

This is one from the local loch from a couple of months ago...The Black Headed Gull(winter plumage) came towards me, and after a wee slide managed to stop on the ice....The colours on the ice are reflected from the trees/bushes/reeds surrounding the loch.....About 80% of the original...HH....ACR, Topaz DN and PS.

Will

[Brian Sump]

Will, I love the colors in the ice and the action a ton. For a plain ol subject, this is fun!

Exposure looks pretty solid and love the pose. A dramatic effect.

If you can give the posterization/graininess in the wings a little love I think it could really bring it up a bit.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Will, you can feel the Gull skating on the ice.

Overall I like the framing/comp, but colours look/appaer a bit 'muddy'. I'm assuming this was in some nice golden light, therefore getting the whites 'brighter' in terms pf pristine and then enrich that golden orange the whole image takes on a new dimension. I see you used NR, noted in the wing feathers where it left areas, surprised you needed it at 2000?

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like it but I am sensing the processing is a little aggressive, parts of the wings appear grainy and parts perhaps too smooth, I am also wondering if it is a little oversharpened.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Will a very nice image of the ice skating gull .... :bg3:
Comp does work well and the pose is nice .
Love the warm refection in the BG .
I can see a brighter and warmer version , with the colors more intense .

Something went wrong in the process with a filter , leaving traces of artifacts .... other than that , a pretty cool image .

TFS Andreas

[Dorian Anderson]

This is such a cool image. The ice and spread wings are really great.

The detail in the underwing is good, but you're getting some very severe noise in the primaries on both wings (though the bird's right is worse).

I'd love to see a bit more room all around, especially if you have more of the reflection. I love the eye contact and the legs!