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Thread: Black-headed Gull

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    Default Black-headed Gull

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    Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK. 18/11/12

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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Nick:

    Handsome gull, well captured, good angle in frame. Remarkable water. For my taste, it is so bright and bold it overpowers the subtle gull a bit. Could be tweaked to see if a different balance made the gull the center of the image.

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    Nice portrait. As Randy mentioned the background is on the bright side.

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    As mentioned, some of the BG colours are a tad intense and toning them down a bit may work well. Very nice vertical comp on this portrait, and I like the exposure and details.

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    I absolutely love your BG and feel it makes a super backdrop for this gorgeous bird. Exposure is spot on. When I first saw it, I thought you may have used a little fill. I might consider a crop option of some off of the bottom to just above the yellow on the left and then tighter on the right.
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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Nick, good low shooting angle, and excellent exposure on the gull. Striking colour to the BG, and as mentioned above, toning it down a touch should still render a great result.

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    How do you like this for a repost. A curves adjustment to brighten the bird, a little desaturation of the blue channel, and a slight darkening of the BG, along with a tighter crop.
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    I love this BG , yes it does dominate the picture a bit but i simply love it
    Great details on the bird with whites so nice
    i do like Doug's RP give more to the bird

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    I like the bird in the OP and the BG in Doug's repost.
    Another nice unique image, Nick, you continually post creative photos.
    Dan Kearl

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    Spot on exposure Nick, great detail & POV, I like the BG as is.

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    Thanks for the comments which are very much appreciated. I like what you have done Doug although I'm not 100% sure about the brightening of the gull, does it look a little bit artificial, or is it just me? Prior to seeing your version Doug and techniques I wouldn't have considered due to my knowledge level, I would have done the same crop as suggested by Marina and just selected the background and desaturated, which I have done on the attached repost by -10. As an afterthought I noticed that some of the bird had a blue colour cast so I selected the bird and desaturated the blues.

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    Good catch on the color cast. What would you think about getting more detail in the bird's body? The head is good, but the rest looks overexposed, even for a white bird.

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nick clayton View Post
    Thanks for the comments which are very much appreciated. I like what you have done Doug although I'm not 100% sure about the brightening of the gull, does it look a little bit artificial, or is it just me? Prior to seeing your version Doug and techniques I wouldn't have considered due to my knowledge level, I would have done the same crop as suggested by Marina and just selected the background and desaturated, which I have done on the attached repost by -10. As an afterthought I noticed that some of the bird had a blue colour cast so I selected the bird and desaturated the blues.
    I like what you've done Nick. I brightened the bird to let it better compete against your bright BG, but may have gone a little too far. I agree with you about the color cast; I did the same thing in my repost.
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    I love the water colors and subtle shading! Gorgeous. Nice intimate portrait of this sweet little gull. Exposure looks perfect to me, regarding details in the whites.

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    like the repost in pane 11 for colors & details. Prefer comp in the OP where we can see a bit more of the reflection.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Brown View Post
    I like what you've done Nick. I brightened the bird to let it better compete against your bright BG, but may have gone a little too far. I agree with you about the color cast; I did the same thing in my repost.
    I appreciate what you were trying to do regarding letting the bird compete with the BG. I also appreciate the useful tips you give Doug. I am happy with the detail in the birds body Diane but thanks for your comments and the comments by the other participants.

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    Beautiful image!
    Excellent comp, bird expsoed very well, love love the background, and teriffic shooting angle.
    Nick your last repost hit the nail on the head.
    Very well done.

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    Thanks Robert

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