Bonaparte's Gull

[John Chardine]

This species (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) is a North American endemic gull that typically breeds in trees in the boreal forest of Canada and Alaska. On migration it congregates in good feeding areas to the south like the Niagara River and the Bay of Fundy, near Deer Island, New Brunswick. I spent the last couple of days around Deer Island looking for elusive Red-necked Phalaropes (none again) but the gulls are still there feeding on herring and krill. Soon they will be off on their migration. They arrive at Deer Island in mid-July still in their breeding plumage and show black heads. Soon they moult to their basic plumage as shown here.

This image is full frame but I added some canvas to the left to help with the comp. The bird might be a little tight in the frame but I didn't want to push my luck with making more BG!

Canon EOS 40D, 70-200mm f4, 1.4 tc = 280mm
capture date: Friday, September 12, 2008 10:328 AM
exposure program: Manual
ISO speed: 640
shutter speed: 1/2000
aperture: f5.6
exposure bias: +0.0
metering: Pattern

[Ramon M. Casares]

Even a bit more room would be great as it still feels tight in the frame, although pose and details are great, I would also try to recover the hot whites. Still as presented it looks great! Congratulaitons!

[John Chardine]

Thanks Ramón. I will rework the crop to give more room. None of the whites are blown. Hottest I can find is luminosity = 97 in front-most wing. Check your monitor calibration strip at bottom of window to see if you can distinguish the brightest whites on your monitor.

[Ramon M. Casares]

You are right Jhon, I was actually looking at it in my laptop and didn't have that in count ;)

[Linda Robbins]

Another vote for more room. The whites look just fine, but I think the bird could use a little more sharpening. I always enjoy your vast knowlege of your subjects and appreciate you sharing details of the lives of the birds you photograph.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I can see the details in the whites. I like the description of the species and the habitat, as I am new to this species. I like the back ground. Would have loved some more room in th front. Nevertheless, a nice image.

[Chris Dodds]

Hey John,

Agree with your own critique of this one. A little more room all around would be what I would like.

Did you use a flash? It's not mentioned, but I like the catchlight in the eye.

[John Chardine]

No flash used Chris. Catchlight was from sun just peaking through clouds at the time.

[John Chardine]

Here's a version with more room. It required more manipulation than I am comfortable with, to make the added BG look real. It's amazing and a little scary what you can do with Photoshop! I blame Robert O'Toole and his APTATS CD!!!!!! Bottom line- repeat the photography this time without the 1.4 converter!