Theme: Heerman's Gull portrait

[Jake Levin]

From my latest trip out to Southern CA. The gulls were plentiful, and although the immature Heerman's were much more cooperative and tended to pose in better spots, I did get this chance with an adult bird. Curious to know your thoughts and critiques, good or bad.

7D mkII
100-400 IS II zoom, hand held at 330mm
1/640 @ f/7.1, ISO 800
ACR/Photoshop

Thanks,
Jake

[Randy Stout]

Jake:

A lovely bird, great bill, nice exposure, details. Just enough light on the iris/pupil to give the eye a bit of life.

Effective comp, would probably add a sliver of canvas to the left.

Just for fun, I ran a 10% screen blend mode on the image, gave it a bit more bite, but the mood is less subdued, so just a matter of personal taste.

Cheers

Randy

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Jake,
Nice portrait with fine details and exposure. I like the red eye ring and how it matches the bill. As Randy mentions adding a little more to the left probably wouldn't hurt. Well done.
Allen

[annmpacheco]

Hi Jake,
You have a lovely portrait here, exposure looks spot on and i agree with a bit more room on the left. I just saw my first Heerman's gulls last week at La Jolla and they are beauties. Well done.

[Noel Heustis]

Jake, Beautiful bird... beautiful shot! I like where the subject is in the frame. I love the color on the bill and the eye rim. I can't quite tell if the BG is water or sky. Was this taken on a cloudy day? Thanks for sharing.

[Jake Levin]

Thanks everyone! To answer Noel's question, the BG is overcast sky. I made the suggested edit with the extra space on the left, and also cleaned up a few bits of dust or old feathers on the bird's back. Gave him a bit of a bill cleanup as well.