White black headed gull?

[kevinmat]

Something different - a reverse portrait of a black headed gull at Fort DeSoto

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3561/3334505246_72bc685e57_o.jpg

Nikon D200 with 70-300mm VR at 300mm F/5.6 1/640 100 ISO
Worked in Lightroom using Deviant2 plugin

[Gus Cobos]

Very nice Kevin,
I like this very much, the prominent crystal clear eye makes it for me; it actually draws you into the picture...well done...:cool:

[Christopher Miller]

I like this Kevin! Almost looks like a sketch with a bit of watercolor. As Gus said, the eye draws you in. I would crop some off the top as I feel that extra white space doesn't contribute to the picture.

[denise ippolito]

Kevin, I love it! The crystal clear eye is super! This has a very monochromatic feel. I also like the light sketched look.Agree w/ Christopher w/ cropping a tad from top. If it were mine, and I wish it were-I would clone the beak shadow. Really nice work!!!

[kevinmat]

Initially I didn't like cropping the pic as it seemed to change the dynamics of how it looked. I have taken all your suggestions and have reworked the image - tell me what you think. Thanks.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3335701478_6fb3f67152_o.jpg

[denise ippolito]

Kevin, nice photoshop work! Like the removal of the shadow- personally I think you could leave a bit more on top than you did. I would only take 1/2 " off original, like your thoughts about it changing the dynamics-it really did.

[Arthur Morris]

A wonderful effect. I too prefer it without the shadow. The gulls with black heads at DeSoto are Laughing Gulls. Ilove the splayed feathers on the sides of the bird.

[Paul Lagasi]

Hey Kevin..another nice new technique we can all learn...shadow removal works...but I personally like original crop or at least more room at top....after seeing what you did, I tried this with a few of my photos...love the effect...Paul

[Julie Kenward]

Very nice, Kevin! I opened the image to try another crop but liked what you had better. One thing I did notice, though, is if you open levels and hit the "auto" button it gives it a slight tweak of contrast in the eye area...you might want to check that out!

[kevinmat]

Thanks everyone for your comments - they are much appreciated. Thank you to Artie for the correct identification. Julie - a great find, I like it! This was really done with little effort so I'm going to spend some hours redoing this properly and may post a completed pic in the next weeks.

[denise ippolito]

Kevin, Look forward to it!