Love-makers in Holland

This copulating pair of Black-headed Gulls was photographed at Texel, Holland with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop as framed: 1/500 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. I should have been at zero as I needed to do some fancy stepping during image optimization to save the WHITEs.

To see the original over-exposed image, to learn about the image optimization, and to see several more sweet Black-headed Gull images see the blog post: "Elegant and Sexy Cousin."

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

very nice Artie, I like the action :t3 great exposure for the whites and blacks. I just wish the small oof leaves at the bottom center of the frame were not there

Lovely photo, the blacks are very well done.
The Dof separation with the birds from the BG is striking.

great exposure,BG and very nice pose.

Great score Arthur, I've yet to witness this ....errrr....event. Looks like you recovered the whites quite well in editing. A difficult one to compose in the frame well, but I think you have made the right choice there and I rather like the multi colored shell beach

Excellent pose of the male, great eye contact with both and perfect exposure.

Excellent intimate moment you have captured, Arthur Sir. Love the great details in black and withes,wonderful lights,beautiful colors and very nice composition.

Regards,
Satish.

Lovely one , when i looked at the original and the one you have here , i am loving it

A great behaviour image caught perfectly with the males wings in a nice position. You did well to bring the bright whites back. Looks like you got the sun when it was getting low and losing it's intensity. Thanks for reminding me how beautiful these common birds where I live are Artie.

Thanks all. Arash, I never even saw that o-o-f vegetation but agree that it is a distraction.