Long shutter-time

[Brutus Ostling]

I think the species name is herring gull in English. I was after one with the eyes still rather sharp at 1/40-1/80 of a second, trying different times, and the gull flying towards me. Which isn't so easy, because you have a lot of gulls around you as soon as you have thrown the first fish or bread. Yes, of course I used some fish, freshly fished.

It's a little bit of a look-a-like to a - I think it's called - One-photo which I had in Audubon-Mag. last Spring, but this one is worse.

Canon 1 D Mark III, EF 70-200/2,8 at 170 mm. ISO 500, 1/50 s., aperture 14. I usually expose nearly everything manually, but this time I knew it would work with shutter-priority.

I could have gone down in ISO, but sometimes you are in the middle of it and you forget. And there are no problems with 1 D Mark III and ISO 500.

[Steve Wheeler]

Wow.... I love this! Eyes and bill are razor sharp... Love the take off and wing tip splashes too!

Very cool image!

Steve

[Gayle Clement]

The eyes are wonderful and that wing splash really puts this over the edge. Terrific work.

[Dan O'Leary]

Fantastic image. The dark background and white gull, the splashes, the blur, the sharpness - a study in contrasts. I love it.

[Gus Cobos]

Great capture, I like the wing action...Looks like he is going into warp drive...:D

[Fabs Forns]

You really nailed this one, not easy to get sharp heads in coming at you images. Love the dramatic dark background!

[John Chardine]

This is an absolute winner of an image. I still can't figure out how you got so much movement in the wings and yet the head is pin-sharp. Excellent work!

[Brutus Ostling]

You wrote:
I still can't figure out how you got so much movement in the wings and yet the head is pin-sharp. Excellent work!¨


The fact is that many birds can have their heads and eyes rather still, while the wings are flapping a lot. I have used long shuttertimes also at the waterholes, like by Bences waterhole hides in Hungary. I'll post some of these photos later, photographed at for Example 1/80 s.

But OK, I admit that it sometimes takes a few (?) photos that I have to delete.:D

[Arthur Morris]

I love this one. ESP the splash in the llc. Is this not a book cover???

[Dan O'Leary]

It is the cover of the US version of Between the Wingtips - a fabulous book, highly recommended.

[Brutus Ostling]

HI Artie,

no, it's another one. Rather different, but from the same direction and three years later.

Best,

Brutus

I love this one. ESP the splash in the llc. Is this not a book cover???

[Arthur Morris]

Ah, that black water and the sharp eye fooled me.