Drizzle, Boring Bird, No Light; You Gotta Love It!

[Arthur Morris]

This worn immature Herring Gull was photographed at Nickerson Beach with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops was a big underexposure but I knew that I need some shutter speed: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6

Lens micro-adjustment: -4. Two sensors below the center AI Servo/Rear Focus AF (with AF active at the moment of exposure).

Don't be shy; all comment welcome.

[James Salywoda]

I really like the high key look on the water it really gives this image an artistic feel the detail and pose is outstanding and of course the low angle of capture. Awesome!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Perfect comp and excellent pose. Just love the wing position and the half-raised foot.
Nice high key effect.
Just curious why you chose to underexpose for SS instead of pushing the iso, Artie.
I know you've made clean images with the 1D4 at iso 1250+ (in fact it was one of your high iso La Jolla images that convinced me to buy the 1D4 :)
In any case, this is a lovely image.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!! This is stunnig. Excellent pose, love the wing position and the detail is superb. Bravo!!!

[gail bisson]

A nice image of a very common gull. Sometimes, the prettiest things are right under our noses!
I like where you have placed the bird in the frame, the wing spread and the sense of forward motion. I really like the bluish eye. It would be neat to see this picture in B&W and leave the eye color in.
I like the wing blur. Eye and face are tack sharp but I find the beak a bit blurry-is it my eyes ?? as no one else has mentioned this.
Nice shot,
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Artie,
I'm a big fan of high key images.
Yours looks great. Love the pose with the raised wings. The reflection at the bottom is great.
However, I would clone out the brownish coloration at the top if it were mine.

[Arthur Morris]

Perfect comp and excellent pose. Just love the wing position and the half-raised foot.
Nice high key effect.
Just curious why you chose to underexpose for SS instead of pushing the iso, Artie.
I know you've made clean images with the 1D4 at iso 1250+ (in fact it was one of your high iso La Jolla images that convinced me to buy the 1D4 :)
In any case, this is a lovely image.

Hi Sidharth, Thanks! I was in a hurry and not thinking all that clearly, and I knew that with the white background that noise would not be much of a problem.

[Arthur Morris]

A nice image of a very common gull. Sometimes, the prettiest things are right under our noses! I like where you have placed the bird in the frame, the wing spread and the sense of forward motion. I really like the bluish eye. It would be neat to see this picture in B&W and leave the eye color in. I like the wing blur. Eye and face are tack sharp but I find the beak a bit blurry-is it my eyes ?? as no one else has mentioned this. Nice shot, Gail

Agree! In the original capture the bird was too right in the frame so I just cropped a bit from the left. Good idea on the B&W; I will try it. I was also thinking that Denise Ippolito could work her magic on this one with some sort of sketch effect. The beak looks OK from here :S3:

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, I'm a big fan of high key images. Yours looks great. Love the pose with the raised wings. The reflection at the bottom is great. However, I would clone out the brownish coloration at the top if it were mine.

Thanks Karl, Different strokes; I am a big fan of strips of color at the top of the frame, especially when they are suffused (as here). :S3:.

[Stu Bowie]

Artie, superb high key here, and just love how the edge of the wings blend into the surrounding BG. Great eye, and I really like how the browns of the gull stand out so well from the high key BG. Well captured.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super shot Artie - hey no light 1/1600 f5.6 @ ISO 400 - if you want no light come over here we can show you LOW light in Wirral!:S3:

[Arthur Morris]

I'll be there in ten!

[Neil Nourse]

Great shot. Perfect SS to show a slight wing blur, and I really like how the shadow gave some detail to the water in front of the subject but then it falls away on the sides.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Wow ! Sooper hi - key here , Artie . Love the blurred tip of the wings here . The blue eye seems striking b'cos of the contrast with the BG !!