Lesser Black-backed Gull

[Ivan Sjögren]

Hi, I like this image mostly because of the pose and the back pattern. I don't think the sharpnes and the details are perfect, and some of the whites on the neck are a little to hot.
Does it work anyway?

Canon 400D
70-300 1:4 5.6 IS USM (zoom at 300mm)
ISO 400
1/800s
f/5.0

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6707/strmmensill.jpg

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Ivan, I like it. I too like the way the bird's feathers serve as a background for the head. I find the head tilt to be interesting and adds some personality to the bird. I agree that a few of the whites are bit hot. It might be worth trying to reconvert the raw file as I suspect that you might be able to recover some whites. In photoshop you could try adding a linear burn layer and mask out the non-white areas. Thanks for sharing.

[Rodney Flowers]

Hey Ivan, I like how the feathers work as a background for the portrait. It is an idea I'll have to try when the opportunity presents itself. I think it would be good if there were a little more space at the top above the head. With IS turned on you should have been able to use a little slower shutter speed and increase the aperture. Increasing the aperture would have helped increase the apparent sharpness of the photo.

[Dave Leroy]

It is an interesting composition and a little different. I like it.

From my recollection if you decrease the focal length of this lens down to 275 or 250 you might find that the shots are sharper with more detail.

[Ivan Sjögren]

Thanks for your critique.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I really like the concept of the image - well seen! I agree with a bit more room at top (I find the top of the head a bit too close to the edge), and I also agree that some of the whites could be toned down. I'm OK with the DOF here. I detect some colour noise throughout the brown feathers...some colour-NR would be a good thing to apply.