Ring-billed Gull "Angel" Pose.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Gulls are one of my favorite subjects both for their beauty (really!) and their accessibility. If they weren't known for hanging out in restaurant and mall parking lots picking at garbage they would surely be looked at with better appreciation. The trick is to find them in more natural spots such as I did here. They are also the best avian subject to practice on because the white plumage can be a challenge to expose for beginners, and they are also great for "bird in flight" practice. Here a Ring-billed Gull flaps its wings dry after a quick dip in the water.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF, a bit of dodging on some more heavily shaded spots.

[Ashley Cohen]

Gulls are also a favourite of mine also. You managed to capture an excellent amount of detail in the whites of this Gull, did you use anything special(plugins?) to help extract the detail such Nik Color Efex? I often seem to struggle to capture lots of detail in whites though not always.

[Arthur Morris]

Go for the gulls! Beautifully done; it looks as if it is standing on a gator....

[dankearl]

just terrific. Maybe a tad brighter?

[arash_hazeghi]

great pose, exposure and symmetrical wing position.

[shane shacaluga]

Very nicely done. Love the pose and the ring on the bill is very prominent against the white wing.

TFS

[Joe Murphy]

Great pose, whites & detail, a lovely shot Daniel, I think gulls are great too.

[Girish Prahalad]

excellent pose, details & exposure.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, nothing wrong in shooting Gulls, and in this, I had to look twice to see what he was perched on - looked like a crocodile's head. You obviously didnt battle with the exposure in this, and in turn, you have brought out the feather detail on the underwings very well. I like the angled pose too.

[vishaljadhav]

Stands out due to the fantastic exposure on the whites , i love the pose and the low level gives it a boost
wonderfully executed image

[David Salem]

I like Gulls too and they are a great way to get better at exposing whites and getting flight shots. Lots of beautiful Gulls out there. Nice shot with a great wing position. Exposure looks right on and lots of detail in the feathers. Well done

[Karl Egressy]

Nice shot, Daniel. Gulls are one of my favorite subject and favorite birds.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Gulls are also a favourite of mine also. You managed to capture an excellent amount of detail in the whites of this Gull, did you use anything special(plugins?) to help extract the detail such Nik Color Efex? I often seem to struggle to capture lots of detail in whites though not always.

Hey all, thanks!

Ashley, nothing special, but the light angle and light quality played a major role here. The light came a bit from the right helping with detail between the feathers and although it was sunny the light was diffused by a thin layer of cloud helping with the whites and somewhat evening out the tonalities. I did dodge some of the deeper shadows in the wings and under the belly (note that fill-flash could have done basically the same).

[Satish Ranadive]

Daniel Sir,
Love the "Angle" pose with magnificent details in whites. Superb composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[nick clayton]

Beautiful light and superb position of the wings make this a stand out image Daniel