Black Headed Gull

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX Mk2
f/4 400mm DO Mk2
f/4
1/3200
ISO 800

I went to the local loch at the weekend to photograph the BHGs, they are nesting on a small island in the middle of the loch....so there was plenty around...It was a white cloud day, the strong sun, was filtering through the clouds...For this shot I exposed for the whites, which made the dark BG, even darker....Then I reduced the shadows on the BG and added a wee bit contrast...I thought it looked good against the whites on the bird....Although named Black Headed Gull, the head is actually a chocolate brown colour...

Will

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Will, yep the darker BKG adds some cool pop with the subject and the green is a nice touch from black.

How did you get on which any camera changes, drop me a line.

TFS
Steve

[Brian Sump]

Well your trip paid off certainly Will. This is super!

Wonderful pose, beautifully exposed, great pp choices with the reduced lum bkg. Details are just off the charts for a banking flight shot like this.

Like the comp for sure and you could always play with another version a touch more left (you probably did). Only other suggestion I could offer would be to selective dodge around the eye and chin just to bring that up a little due to the light angle - subjective nit of course.

Well done man!

[Steve Kaluski]

Will I meant to say, use a Gradute filter in ACR and darken the top LHC and then just about a half (in old money) along the top. Just needs about a third of a stop just to keep more of a uniform backdrop, as everything else is quite well balance.

[Jay Ing]

WOW - lovely. Love this dorsal view esp.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice banking pose and it stands out nicely against the dark BG, dorsal details are good but wish the head was a touch sharper, perhaps it's due to lack of a catchlight...excellent exposure

TFS

[John Mack]

The gull looks great against that dark background. I could see the bird more to the left. I know easier said after the fact.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nice dorsal view of this gull. I like the exposure, background and detail. The bird is very similar to the breeding Laughing Gull here. Thank you for shariing, Wil.

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

Will

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Will, excellent banking pose showing off the wings. The feather detail is excellent, as is your exposure. The Gull certainly does pop from the darker BG.

[Wayne Niz]

Hey Will

The whites are perfect, great picture well done

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that...Stu and Wayne....appreciated

Will