Black Headed Gull landing MKII

[Iain Barker]

Thanks everyone for the comments on the last Gull. I've been upgrading my computer for a few days and unable to post but here is the other image I mentioned. The perch is the same as previous and it is now more obvious the background is water.
This Image was taking a few minutes after the last one so show how much difference a slight change in light can make.

The exposure was exactly the same but the last was slightly under exposed to start where this one is not.

Nikon D7000, Nikon 300mm f4 af. 1/1000 sec f5.6 ISO 400

I'd be interested to know if you prefer the composition of this image or my previous post. I preferred the composition of the last one but the IQ of this.

Thanks for looking.

[Randall Farhy]

Interesting- even though it's the same branch, these are entirely different images. What draws me to this one is the bg. I love that transition from gray to blue. The vertical works nicely too though I do prefer the subject position in the prior frame. Wondering if a gradient could be masked into the prior image?

[David Kenny]

I prefer this shot over the other. I like the position of the bird and how sharp it is. The vertical comp works well here and the colors in the background are very nice.

[Diane Miller]

I like this a lot! As you said, I like the first more for composition but the bird seems sharper in this one and the BG, as mentioned, is a plus.

You might consider adding a little canvas on top and right. The darks feel too heavy to me. In the previous one, it was only on the branch, but here it's also in the head.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Comp is awesome! The only issue I have is that the bird's head is intersecting vertically with his leg (so it kinda looks like there is a leg "growing" out of his bill. BG is killer and love the flare and transparency of the tail.

[Iain Barker]

Thanks everyone.
I went back to Lightroom and made a few slight changes to try and brighten the image a little more.
The images always seem slightly darker on the website than when checking the image before posting. My original image does have some more space on the top and right but at the top the background changes to reeds so would leave a brown band across the top. I think I would need to add canvas at the top instead. I will get Photoshop back on my pc and try that.
I hadn't really noticed the way the bill and leg line up so thanks for pointing that out Sandy. Not much I can do about it but something to watch out for in future.

[Diane Miller]

Yes, better. When you get LR5 you'll see a big difference in what you can bring out in Shadows and Highlights.

There shouldn't be a difference between the tonalities in PS and here, except to the extent that any differences in BG brightness are causing an illusion.