Theme - Eye Level: First Winter Lesser Black-backed Gull

[Paul Guris]

I know people are often less than thrilled by gulls, but I find the ID and aging of them to be fascinating. Here's a photo taken on a recent pelagic trip out of Delaware where Lesser Black-backeds stay in our chum behind the boat for hours on end. The biggest problem was getting photos of the birds alone instead of being blocked by other gulls or Gannets.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f/4 IF-ED + TC-14E II 1.4x teleconverter
ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000, 0.67EV, 420mm (630mm equivalent)
Uncropped vertically, giving me a tighter framing than I'd prefer.


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[Dan Brown]

Really nice BIF capture Paul! This seems to me to be a great image for ID'ing this age for LBBG! Upper wing, under wing, tail, upper tail coverts, eye, bill! All that's missing are the feet! Good HA too! I might clone out the two hot spots in the bg.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Paul, Gulls are fun birds to photograph allways action with them around. Nice BIF pose with lovely light and feather detail. I would consider a little selective sharpening in the head area and positioning the gull more to the left in the frame.

[Paul Guris]

Thanks for the feeback. Both suggestions seem like they'll improve the image.