Juvie Greater Black backed Gull with starfish

[gail bisson]

Canon 1D MKIV
F 4.0 600mm
SS 1/2500
ISO 800
f 6.3
Cropped by 30% so 70% FF.
Nothing cloned out of this one!
Fishermen were throwing the by-products of catch into the water and the gulls were diving in for the pickings.
Glace Bay Harbour at the fish processing plant. I like the little water drop falling off the starfish.
This shot reminds me of Grace's second place IOY from 3 years ago ( I am not implying it is nearly as good - just the gull and starfish thing!)
PP: crop, levels, DE at 4% on head and USM.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Nick Palmieri]

I like the composition. Birds with starfish are always special. On my monitor the starfish looks like it needs to be toned down a tad. Congrats on a cool capture!

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent an unique capture, Gail. The Starfish in the beak look really cool.

[Mike Milicia]

Yes, Grace's image is burned in my memory and I am always on the lookout for gulls with interesting prey but no luck so far!
You certainly got one and with wonderful water to boot ... congrats!

[PhilCook]

hahaha...classic !...he looks like he's about to enjoy one of mommas home baked cookies.....or perhaps he's the local Sheriff displaying his badge. Never seen a Gull with this style of food before, very different. Nice gold on the water, but must admit to being distracted by the darker vertical band on the right though which is a shame

[Sachin Saraf]

I have never seen a gull with interesting preys myself...the starfish really makes this image special...Love the composition.

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool, the food item makes this interesting good details, there is too much space around the gull, can be distracting with the reflections...

[Hayath Mohammed]

Very cool image this! and you got some good angle and light.
I too think the mid-tones especially on the starfish could be toned down a bit

[Mike Veltri]

Wow, now that's different.
Well done Gail.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, the unique catch makes this very special, and Im fine with the exposure on the starfish. The placement of the gull works well, and I do like the colour of the water. Im ok with a lot of space around a subject, but coming up about a third from the bottom should improve the overall comp. Just how I see it.

[Amol Khedgikar]

This is super capture. I too have never seen them eat Starfish.

The composition makes the bird and more importantly the starfish small. The starfish would appreciate some fine details brought out by a closer /vertical crop. JMO

[gail bisson]

I toned down the starfish and tried this as a vertical as well. I also used DPP to convert the RAW instead of LR3.
Thanks for the help,
Gail

[Grace Scalzo]

This vertical has so much more impact. Allows my eye to rest more easily on your interesting subjects and the fine detail that this image contains. I would still trim a bit more off the bottom. Nicely done, Gail.

[Peter Dexter]

I like this crop better too Gail. The original had a sort of blob on the right that bothered me. Starfish looks better too in this repost.

[Doug Brown]

Love the golden water and the starfish. I prefer the vertical, although I'd go 5x7 or 8x10; 2x3 is too tall IMO and the frame looks out of balance.