Actually, it takes longer to read the title than what this "fight" lasted. Somebody once said (and I paraphrase) "when unexpected action happens don't worry about settings - just take the picture". Luckily I was already setup for flight anyhow. The upper and left part of the image are as is, with a crop from left and bottom to balance the comp. I am glad the upper wing was "cut" in a good spot. In an ideal world the lower individual's face would be clear form the wing, but the eye is visible and we can clearly see the lower mandible "stabbing" the other gull, so it is a strong enough frame for my liking.
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4 TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2500s., f/5.6, ISO 1600. Cropped as described above (about 70% FF), NR to the BG.
Great sense of action, from the dynamic poses, flying water, gaze direction.
As you addressed it, the front wing on the lower bird is a bit of an issue, but as stated, you can see the eye and the bill hitting the other bird, so unless it could have somehow been folded all the way to the left, or all the way open and behind the other birds tail, it wan't going to be perfect.
Nice action shot Daniel and agree with your assessment. I get lots of these frames where the head or eye is lost in the action.Nothing we can do just hold the shutter down and hope for the best.Like all the water gives that sense of fighting and action . TFS
I like the action and the curled water coming off the bottom bird. Not really a fan of the crop. I know there is no zooming with your prime. Nice their both in breeding plummage.
It's a split second action shot so no options but to click and hope.
I think being able to see the eyes of both birds plus the beak push in to the other gives the shot interest.
I like the action.
Technically all good-exposure, sharpness, POV and IQ.
Unlike everyone else, I am Ok with the wing in front of the face but wish you had the entire wing.
This crop does focus the eye to "the stabbing/poking" of the gull which is a good call,
Gail