Black-headed Gull ... back to the drawing board

[Richard Stern]

I recently posted an image of a 1st winter bird in the Avian Critique forum, about which Artie made some interesting comments, and suggested I re-do the whites using his suggestions in the Educational Resources forum. After fiddling about I came to the conclusion that he's right (of course) and that original image isn't really a keeper. So here's another Black-headed gull, this time with a sharper original image, and some adjustments to the white balance, whites, and sharpness, made on the original raw image in LR3 as per the suggestions in the ER forum, and the bg cleaned up in PSE6. I realize the tail is cut off by the sloping foreground.

D300, 300 f/4 AF-S +1.4TC
1/2500, f/5.6. ISO640

Richard

[Joel Eade]

Hi Richard,

I like the whites on this one, the focus ii sharp, the pose and head angle are good, I would maybe crop a little off the right and add to the left. Also would try to lighten the eye and clone out the green patch just above the birds back.

I think you did well with the exposure.

Others might comment on the shoreline intersecting the bird's head but it doesn't bother me.

Good one!

Joel

[Julie Kenward]

I like Joel's assessment and suggestions. I noticed that the bird is a bit centered in the frame and you can always add canvas to the left and rework it a bit but doing so in the field would save you the trouble. Try thinking about composition as much as exposure - it's almost as important. ;)

The only thing I don't like about this image (besides him being so centered) is that his head intersects with the line of the horizon. For that reason, I selected the head/beak area, inversed the selection, grabbed a sample of the rocks/sand in the BG and then painted over the blue area twice with a soft brush set at 25% until it blended with the rest of the BG. Again, watch for this in the field and you won't need to worry about these things. And, as always, this is just a suggestion...do what you feel is best. I just wanted to present you with an alternative.

And congrats on the exposure!

[Richard Stern]

Thanks Julie -

Excellent lesson on how to improve an image!

Richard

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Richard,

Greetings. Detail looks pretty good here, but suffers from the lighting. The top, slightly back lighting, throws a shadow across the breast, the eye, and back. Better light position would have given more detail and perhaps a catch light.

Jules,

I like your repost. In addition to solving the intersection, it removes the competing color, leaving the color contrast to the wings.

Cheers,

-Michael-