Ring-billed gull prt.

[Bryan Hix]

I came accross a small flock of these gulls and they are always fun to experiment with because of their tame nature. I don't know a ton about gulls, but I assume the red eye ring means they are in breeding plummage now. Since I only had the 600 with me, I ended up with a lot of portraits. I like the way the light was on this one. Not sure if it should be cooled down a bit? Suggestions always welcomed. Thanks!

Canon 1D Mk3
600mm with 1.4x TC
ISO 400, 1/2000th @ f/8
Av Mode, Eval 0 comp
LR2-crop, adjust curves, lightened iris and corner of mouth
Take 4/14 @ 1:40pm (not ideal, I know), 81 degrees!

[Connie Mier]

I like the intimacy of it, but would rather it not be so tightly cropped, maybe a bit more room on top and right. I don't think the whites are hot, but then again, I'm on a laptop. Did you manage a shot with the bird looking straight on at you?

[Bryan Hix]

I guess I should have asked, does the WB need to be cooled down? I don't have one looking right at me. Thanks for the crop suggestion. It's always hard to tell when you stare at something for a while. It takes another set of eyes. :)

[Connie Mier]

Oops, my mistake on the whites. From my screen, I wouldn't want to see it cooler, I like the warm tones.

[Fabs Forns]

I like the warm tones too. Did you try any with a vertical orientation?
The light angle was off a bit, but the shadows have soft edges. DOF becomes very critical when you are so close, thous the OOF bill.

[James Salywoda]

Nice 3 d feel to this Bryan great head shot.

[Daniel Cadieux]

WB seems fine, as does exposure...these guys are quite bright white in breeding plumage (speaking of breeding plumage, you are right about the reasoning behind the red eyering). Crop a bit tight and awkward IMO. As Fabs mentions, the light angle is slightly off. Still not too bad though. Would have been able to move left a bit to get the sun directly behind you?

[Bryan Hix]

WB seems fine, as does exposure...these guys are quite bright white in breeding plumage (speaking of breeding plumage, you are right about the reasoning behind the red eyering). Crop a bit tight and awkward IMO. As Fabs mentions, the light angle is slightly off. Still not too bad though. Would have been able to move left a bit to get the sun directly behind you?

I would have loved to get a better angle, but I was in my car. I kept trying to herd them toward the right angle to the sun. Pretty funny really if you saw it. :)

[John Chardine]

I like tight portraits like this Bryan!

Other breeding season features of this bird are bright yellow bill and lack of grey flecking in the head.

I think the focus point should have been a bit farther back so that the eye was tack.

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp with a very good EXP. The light from behind and left bugs me a bit as do the two tiny white specks on top of the bill :) Another vote for wider.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the eye contact and sharpness but would sharpen the eye more as the critical focus is on the base of the bill. Considering the shutter speed, I would have stopped down more to get eye and tip of the bill in focus, too.

[Bryan Hix]

Artie that is just funny. I would never have noticed those two dots. I knew when posted this, no, actually I knew as I was editing these that I said to myself, if Arite sees this he is going to hate the light angle on these. Although we have never met, you manage to speak to me when I look through the viewfinder. ;)

[Bryan Hix]

I widened the crop and sharpened the eye and a small area around the eye and removed the two dots. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Arthur Morris]

I actually do not hate the light in this image, it is just not my preference. Good job on the two spots :)