Audouin´s gull (Larus audouinii)

[Juan Aragonés]

Another image from this summer but not of a flamingo but a very endangered mediterranean gull, one of my favourite gulls. Some cloning work to remove part of an OOF gull at the left
Cabo de Gata Natural Park, Almería, Spain

Nikon D2X AFS Nikkor 300VR+2XTC, WH II and tripod, D2X HSC mode, f6,3 1/500s, manual exposure

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely wing stretch. Love the background colours. The whites are slightly hot at places. I like the way the head is stretched. Thanks for sharing

[Ramon M. Casares]

There are some hot whites, but they can be easily recovered with some PP and still as it is, is a great shot, BG, pose, sharpness, compo, and eye contact as colors are outstanding! Congratulations Juan!

[Juan Aragonés]

Wow, guys you have very sharp eyes! In my monitor the image looks well and from the histogram of the image, the hot whites are hardly noticeably. Fortunately this is a RAW file so I can go, if necessary, to the original file and rework it. The whites seems OK for me but I would love to hear more opinions.:)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Juan,
Your composition and image is superb as always...I must agree with the others that you have two hot spots, one toward the upper portion of the bird's tail, and the other on the top portion of the head...also by looking at your histogram, you do have a slight touch of the line all the way to the right...:cool:

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Awesome work Juan with great timing and wonderful action. Also love the BG and slight reflection. Outstanding composition !!

[Sudhir Shivaram]

This is a beautiful image. The gradual change in the background has worked very well.The pose is outstanding.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Liked the pose & the lifted wings. A superb BG to go with.
Regarding the hot spots, I would say the same as Gus Cobos did.

[Doug Brown]

Great pose and BG Juan. Agree about the hot spots; the one on the tail feathers is most noticeable. Also it looks like there's a smudge just in front of the beak. A slight head turn towards you would have taken this one over the top.

[Juan Aragonés]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will return to the RAW file to fix the hot spots and the snudge area in front of the biill that Doug pointed out (thanks for the advice):)

[Laura Hughes]

This is like a painting, it has an almost mystical quality, very beautiful image Juan

[Markus Jais]

beautiful shot. great light and colors. the wing pose is awesome. wonderful BG.

Markus

[Linda Robbins]

Juan, levels confirms the small areas of white that are over, but this fine image is worth reconverting in PS. Beautiful pose with that lovely wing stretch, and the BG pastel colors are gorgeous.

[Kirk Benson]

Beautiful pose and BG Juan, very appealing to the eye. Congrats on a wonderful image.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Really nice pose and sweet colors. The hot spots are not so distracting IMO. Very fine image Juan.

[Fabs Forns]

Outstanding in every way. Highlights are easy to fix ;)