Portrait of a Gull

[Don Railton]

Hi Guys

This is all I could find at the local beach last night...So how did I do?? It was a beautiful evening all the same.

1Dmk4 and 500 F4 handheld.
1/1600 @ F8 and ISO 400
AV mode, no flash.
Slight crop and minimal processing (levels &sharpening only)

DON

[bhavya joshi]

Nice Portrait Don. Sharp and nice details especially Eye..

[jack williamson]

Nice portrait with a good exp,nice and sharp. Love the BG and the eye is really good, not sure about the crop, see what others say.

Jack

[Grace Scalzo]

Personally, I love it. There is a small dust spot on the left side, and I would eliminate the yellow. What species of gull is this?

[Frank Schauf]

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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--> Excellent expsoure control and sharpness.

[Ron Sprunger]

Great job hand-held with that big lens. Exposure and sharpness are terrific, as are the light and BG. I'd consider removing a bit on the left; maybe just enough to ditch the yellow glow and have the margin intersect the lower back.

[Don Railton]

Thank you all for the comments...

Grace, I am not sure what type of gull it is, but its referred to locally as a 'common' gull. There are variants with red legs and others with black legs and now since you asked I will make a point of finding out more. This one had black legs I think..

Rod I agree with your crop suggestion and almost did this. My main satisfaction with this shot was the sharpness and I think it was a result of an accidental change in technique. I had a (home made) bean bag hanging off my belt and as I squatted down on my RH knee to take this shot I flicked the bag behind me. The bag ended up sitting on top of my right foot and under by behind. I ended up sitting on the bag which was on my RH foot and I was a lot more stable than my normal squatted stance... I will definitely try this again. I had the usual Left hand on lens, left elbow on LH knee out in front of me, right hand on camera and RH elbow in hard against the body...

[Troy Lim]

Love the exposure and BG, a bit center though. I would take off some on the left side.