Ring-billed Gull After-bath Wing Flap.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Strong easterly winds in the late afternoon/early evening meant butt shots of flying and roosting birds...except for when working with silhouettes. When a few of the gulls started bathing I knew the opportunity for interesting backlit wing-flapping action would occur and I went straight into prime position. I was especially hoping for translucence on the feathers...they did not disappoint! There is one thing that bothers me a lot here...can you guess?

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/3200s., f/5.6, ISO 800, handheld, small crop to help the composition, warmed up the WB to taste and to what I remember seeing, deepened the darkest blacks.

[Ross Taylor]

Hi Daniel, I love the colors, the translucence, and the droplets of water behind that are looking like sparks coming off the bird ;)

If I were to guess what bothers you about the shot, it may be that one wing (the left one) looks edge-on or thin closer to the body.

I really love this style of silhouette, Daniel.

Ross

[Grace Scalzo]

Nothing bothers me ! If I had to dig deep I would say that it would be nice if the bird's left foot was open too, but so miner. Love the concept and well executed.

[Karl Egressy]

You took advantage of the situation and the end result looks good, Daniel.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Daniel, nice image... well executed silhouette. My guess would be that the bird's left leg is lost against the silhouetted body. Thank you for sharing.

[gail bisson]

My guess is the far wing bugs you!
Silhouette looks great and lovely color in the BG. The water drops are really nice with this back light.
Gail

[dennis greenwood]

Another top draw image Daniel ....and inspiring to see what you always manage to achieve with the light you have available ,a master wildlife photographer in my honest opinion

[William Dickson]

Lovely colours on this one. Nothing bothers me Is it the HA Great capture Dan.

Will

[Robert Kimbrell]

Great Colors Daniel. Well done with the translucency of the feathers. The water droplets also add. I am guessing you are not loving the head angel.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments and guesses! IMO the HA is just about perfect, and although the far wing could be better I do like it as it flows well with the bird's overall position. Grace has guessed it: I wish the other foot was also open or did not look like it was mangled...for some reason it bugs me as heck!

[Ross Taylor]

Congrats Grace! Thanks for the "What Bugs Daniel" game Daniel :)

[Grace Scalzo]

I too get obsessed with certain things in some of my images that stand out as flaws. I wonder if the lesson here is to try and see the beauty instead of our perceived flaws. It's such a good image and we are probably the only ones who even think about some of this minutia.