I am not sure what kind of gull, laughing maybe? Northwest corner of CT isn't a hotbed for birds, I have a lot to learn. this was taken on a very foggy day. 40D 100-400 @ 400 f5.6 ISO 400 1/1600 Av eval +2/3. I love the splash of red among grays. I cloned out a dark streak and there is a slight crop here. Other than that I sharpened some, which I am not good at.
Hi Carole - I like the BG you have and also the tounge out pose. HA also looks good as does eye contact.
I added some sharpening and desaturated the reds a little, also went with a tight crop - may not be to everyones taste. (Did two rounds of sharpening with Arties settings 300/.3/1 - 200/.2/0)
Would be good to get some mmore detail out of the eye - sorry no time at the minute.
Yes indeed, a laughing gull, really yukking it up in this case!
Sharpening is about the only thing I can do, would love to know how, as Lance suggests, to bring out a bit of detail in the eye.
Stephen
Hi Stephen - lots of ways to do it - depending on what you have to work with to start with - lots of useful info in Arties "Art of Bird photography II".
Could do it with Shadows/Highlights or depending on your ethics, if you had another frame of the same bird with a good eye you could replace the whole eye, personally don't have a problem with this AS LONG as it's mentioned as part of the description.
Hi Stephen Would suggest Artie's PDF also Will guide you step by step and take the mystery out !!!
Do advice to learn through PS but remember there are other ways !!! You can try Viveza from Nick !!! It sets control points and you can lighten an area I think they have a trial period so you can download and try. Also in the new version LR 2,0 there are ways for local corrections very intuitively.
Switching eyes from one bird to another is a mater of personal ethic. With the current technology is inevitable that you will start seeing more and more. The procedure is easy and would take just a few seconds !!!!