juvenile gull taking a bow

[Bob Smith]

I was on my 1st outing with my new lens ( thanks for the review Doug Brown and Greg Basco ), when I spotted this youngster standing on a piling in the river just across the dyke from my truck. I stood behind my tripod watching it for a long while and shooting a few shots as he turned his head and then he went through an elaborate bowing ritual giving me this shot. 7DII, Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3, DG OH HS, ISO640,f/6.3,1/1600

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bob, I do like the behaviour here, and you have captured some great feather detail.Good eye contact as if the Gull is giving you that slight head turn as a pose. Im ok with the slightly weathered post/perch, but even though it may not be level in the field, I would level the post.

Congrats on your new lens.

[Joe Subolefsky]

Unique pose I would give it a few degrees clockwise rotation.

[Bob Smith]

Amazing what a difference in perception a slight tilt makes---thanks for the suggestion Stu and Joe.

[Daniel Cadieux]

That's gulls for ya...keep your sights on one for long enough (and many times not that long) and eventually you'll get something interesting. I like the pose, pretty cool behaviour. I like the perch in the context of where gulls can and will hang out, and the "lining" adds a a bit of interest. I do wish the light was more directly behind you to fully light that perch though. Rotation looks good, but I would prefer a fully dark upper edge like in the original post. You could also tone down the large bright feather a bit.

[John Whaley]

I live in a coastal area and am not a fan of gulls but this is a great capture. It makes this one look almost cute. Beautiful light and great pose with tack focus and detail. Well done.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image. Spectacular pose. Great colors and nice composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Bob Smith]

Thanks for the comments and input guys---it really is much appreciated.