Ivory Gull Portrait

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This is another image I made of the Ivory Gull on Cape Cod last weekend. Unfortunately, it seems that the bird is not there anymore and I'm glad I went to Massachusetts right after reading the reports.

I lightened the iris a bit and like that it shows the red eye ring and coloration of the bill. The bird got so close that it didn't fit in the frame anymore and I went for some portraits.

http://www.pbase.com/axelhi/image/121291267/original.jpg

1D4, 500f/4, 1.4x, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 400, cropped from vertical

[denise ippolito]

Beautiful portrait Axel. I love the eye ring and the ivory white details. Glad you got some great images of the gull when you had the chance. TFS.

[Malcolm Benn]

Beautiful image Axel ..it looks great against the background colouring.

[Lorant Voros]

Nice one, Axel. Lucky you got to take some images before it was gone. I love the feeling of this portrait with it's colors and the job you did on the eye. Thank you for sharing.

[Grace Scalzo]

Fine work, Axel. Love the background and the colors in this bird's beak. Out of curiosity, did you create any images where you stopped down a bit more?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Fine work, Axel. Love the background and the colors in this bird's beak. Out of curiosity, did you create any images where you stopped down a bit more?

Thanks, Grace! No, the bird was usually 30-45 feet away and walking along the shoreline and f/8 was sufficient for that. I think he wanted to get his picture taken when he got so close unexpectedly. :)

[Jan Wegener]

way to go Axel. Never saw a head portrait of this species :)

[Bill Dix]

A gorgeous portrait, Axel. Colors and eye ring are spectacular. Shows the importance of acting promptly. Well done!

[Karl Egressy]

What a wonderful portrait this is, Axel. A dream bird to see.

[Blake Shadle]

Killer image, Axel. Great work on the exposure. I don't know if the background could be any better, the way the blue enhances the color on the birds beak. The eye is simply amazing and sharp as a tack. Well done.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Wonderful, that eye-ring is fenomenal.
Great work.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Axel....I like the way you handle the whites. Loved the comp and the BG in this one too.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Man this is insanely good! And I mean it! :) Love the bill color and the eye is just mesmerizing. I never realized you were a twitcher until I read your first post about driving however many miles. But worth it and am glad you got to see and photograph this incredible species. :)

[Willem Verboom]

Nice sharp and white portret. The bird and the bacckground are very diffent and that makes the picture nice too look at.

Willem

[Arthur Morris]

Nice one, Axel. Lucky you got to take some images before it was gone. I love the feeling of this portrait with it's colors and the job you did on the eye. Thank you for sharing.

Axel is lucky that he worked so hard and got up at midnight and drove almost 7 hours.... Folks who work hard make their own luck.

My favorite part of this image is the bill. I preferred the images of the whole bird in the soft light. The feathers of the upper neck look matted and the bright light is not as attractive as the soft pre-dawn light in the other three that I saw.

IAC, I wish that I had been there and that I had this one in my collection.

[LouBuonomo]

Beautiful creature well captured. Subtle colors in the bill are wonderful!
Lou

[Michael Zajac]

Congratulations on your capture. I like the portrait comp. The bill looks good and so does the eye.

[Juan Aragonés]

Axel, this one makes my day. What a terrific portrait of this beautifull gull! Exposure job is nailed, the eye is killer (BTW; fantastic color in the orbital skin), sharpness couldn´t be better and I love the matching of colors in the BG and bill. I would add a bit more room at the top. Big congratulations for such a fine portrait :eek:

[James Salywoda]

Beautiful portrait Axel.

[Stu Bowie]

Im not sure where to start. Excellent exposure, sharpness, and I like the pastel colours in the BG. Great to see the eye ring, and looking at your series of this guy, your trip has paid off ten fold. Congrats.

[Rich Steel]

Axel

I have been watching these Ivory gull photographs you have been posting with interest as I have a mkIV on pre-order. So far I have been very encouraged by the results I have seen coming out of the camera.

What a stunning bird and one I would love to see. Glad you put in all the hard work to travel and find one to show us.

Great datail and exposure in this photo and a very complimentary background.

Cheers

Rich

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Axel

I have been watching these Ivory gull photographs you have been posting with interest as I have a mkIV on pre-order. So far I have been very encouraged by the results I have seen coming out of the camera.

What a stunning bird and one I would love to see. Glad you put in all the hard work to travel and find one to show us.

Great datail and exposure in this photo and a very complimentary background.

Cheers

Rich

Rich, I'm sure you are going to like the 1D4, the learning curve is not very steep coming from the Mark III, just don't forget to turn off the Auto Lighting Optimizer, it is enabled by default. I don't know if you saw the thread where some people discussed this feature: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=54278

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Axel: This is wildlife photography at its best - - the kind of image that gets the rest of us out of bed on Saturday and Sunday mornings to get out there and catch the magic. Just a lovely shot!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Your effort payed off. Magnificent looking bird. The white of its feathers and the light blue BG makes this one for me.