I created this image nearly two weeks ago on the Isle of Wight on the English Channel. These beautiful little gulls frequently most shorelines that I visited but their heads are actually chocolate brown and not "black".
Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm at 500mm. ISO 200, 1/1600, F8.0 with fill flash. Image cropped to about 80% of full frame.
The head turn could have been better but I do like the slightly raised foot. I'm not sure about the sunlight reflection on the bird's breast but I decided to leave it unchanged. Should I have cropped a touch more off the top and moved the bird a bit more to the right?
The reflection is OK for me and so is the placement in the frame. The bird is beautiful and as you say, the raised foot is a big plus. I feel it could use a bit of CW rotation.
Hi Stephen! Agree with Fabs about the CW rotation. I'd like to see a slight crop from the top and maybe the bottom. Like the eye contact and the raised foot. Thanks for posting!
I'm personally not sure that it needs CW rotation...the gull looks like it was actually leaning like this, and I like it :-) I'd probably take some off the top, and run a noise reduction program on the BG.
Hi Stephen,
Judging by the shadow and light........you did very well with the exposure on the whites. With the rotation and crop as suggested above, this may make the gull placement where you mentioned.
Thank you Fabs, Doug, Dan and Roland. I'll try another stab at the image and do a re-post. Dan you're right this bird was strutting around, a bit like a waddling duck. It was funny to watch.
Black Headed Gull
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