Heerman's Gull

Just got back from San Diego and the gulls were certainly there and willing to pose. My call to the seagull union must have gone unanswered, because they sent over a model with dirty feet, but I hope that doesn't detract from the overall photo. Very little post-processing apart from a bit of spot cleanup and my standard detail extractor work on the face. I prefer to use a wider aperture here to blur the ocean background and sacrifice a bit of sharpness in the feet and tail. This is a mature Heerman's gull; the immature birds are black, with no red on the bill or eye ring.

7D mkII
100-400 IS II
1/5000 @ f/6.3, ISO 400

Merci,
Jake

A very handsome gull with a great pose. He stands out nicely against the dark water. Just a little tight for me, especially on the right, but that seems to be your personal preference.

Really nice pose on the hill. Nice background, agree with Bill that more room on the right would be beneficial. Thank you for sharing.

Jake, nice detailed image of this colorful gull, nice BG, angle and catchlight, needs a hair more room on the right IMO.

-Tim

Nice one Jake. I agree with the guys above re adding some more room on the right. I would also clone out the white wash on the rocks.

Nice pose and excellent image Jake. Another vote for more on the right from me too but the rest looks great: excellent processing that has brought out nice detail and tone, good whites and a background that works well. I'm not bothered by the limited DOF.

This image remained me of San Diego Trip Last Year. It was my first trip and quite enjoyed it.

Nice Image, good perch I think there needs to be more canvas to the right side.

It appears in this instance the ocean BG was far enough behind the subject to allow for more DOF. While it is not a deal breaker IMHO as is, it would have looked a little better I think.
The light is beautiful and I love its eye.