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Thread: Nailing the whites

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    Default Nailing the whites

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    I didn't see this young Great Black-backed Gull ever go after the Skimmer colony, but he walked over a few times and appeared to be thinking hard about it. As cute as those baby Black Skimmers are, I was hoping for a chance at some action shots of the GBBGs, but they kept their distance. Skimmers have been videotaped actually mobbing and killing gulls that get too close (it's even on youtube), so this younger bird was probably wise in waiting for a more opportune moment.

    As far as the picture goes, this is the first time I feel like I absolutely got the histogram spot on. I have a tendency to blow whites sometimes, and on the camera and on the computer, the histogram showed that wonderful bit of space on the right edge. Composition wise, what do you think? There is just a little bit of a shadow where the head meets the neck, but there was no way to avoid that in full sun.


    1/800 f/10 @ ISO 400, handheld in AI servo
    7d mkII
    400 DO II

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    The composition is fine, and the sharpness good. I do think the image is a tad bright overall. The whites are not blown, but the blacks and mid-tones could be deepened. Handsome fella, nice that it came in so close!

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    I need to get my monitor properly calibrated. I've been having some issues with my calibration machine, so once I get those resolved, I can get the blacks and midtones where they need to be.

    Edited to add: the bird was also rather flat-coloured overall, given that he/she was a juvenile and not a full adult. The neck area was definitely on the lighter side of gray as opposed to near black.
    Last edited by Jake Levin; 09-02-2016 at 03:41 PM.

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Whites are on the edge and could use more detail. Nice pose although the image would have been more pleasing to the eye had the sun been lower. I think this image would be stronger with a different crop. I would completely crop out the grey portion and concentrate on a conventional horizontal of the head only so some more space on top, less on the right.
    Marina Scarr
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