Iceland Gull in Snow

[Brandon Holden]

1DM2n, 600mm... ISO 640, 1/2000, F 5.6... 93% of Frame

I'm a bit of a gull nut, and spend countless hours searching through them for strange plumages, hybrids and rarities. Yesterday, I arrived at my favourite gull location (a compost facility) to see that they were dumping food (human food, gone bad.. for the compost) near the back of their property, near a woodlot. I was pretty excited, as it was snowing, and I figured the flakes would show up well against the dark bg. Im often there with the camera just to "doccument" the birds I see, but yesterday I managed a few i'd call keepers!

I decided to save the file at 1000 pixels, but im worried its lost some detail trying to keep the file size under 200kb.

Happy Shooting!

Brandon

[Arthur Morris]

Love the snow, the dorsal view, and the soft light. A crop from the rear and from below would improve the COMP. Image quality looks good.

Can you confirm that this bird is in first winter plumage?

[Fabs Forns]

Stunning background and banking position. Agree on Artie's suggestion for a crop. It could also work as a vertical, though loosing more pixels. The DOF in the snow is superb!

[Wayne Richardson]

Can you confirm that this bird is in first winter plumage?

Hi Art

I would put this individual in its 2nd winter, given the grey 'saddle'. The eye looks pale too, which also an older characteristic. While the bill is somewhat darker than normal (for age) it still appears to be 2-toned. The tail & primary markings are too dark for nominate Iceland, indicating IMO that this is 'Kumlien's'.

Although a little too saturated in the blue spectrum, it is a very nice image non-the-less!

Cheers: Wayne

[Ramon M. Casares]

STUNNNIG! I agree with Artie's suggestions, and I would also try to tone down the whites in the tail and primary feathers. But as said, STUNNING shot with great mood! Congratualitons!

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Art, I would put this individual in its 2nd winter, given the grey 'saddle'. The eye looks pale too, which also an older characteristic. While the bill is somewhat darker than normal (for age) it still appears to be 2-toned. The tail & primary markings are too dark for nominate Iceland, indicating IMO that this is 'Kumlien's'.

Thank you sir. I did not know that this species does not get the saddle look until the 2nd winter. Am I correct in stating that Ring-billed Gull gets the saddle look in 1st winter plumage?

[Brandon Holden]

Thank you sir. I did not know that this species does not get the saddle look until the 2nd winter. Am I correct in stating that Ring-billed Gull gets the saddle look in 1st winter plumage?

Thanks for the comments! You're right about RBGUs. "3 Year" gulls (3 years until adult plumage) like Ring-billed show the gray saddle in their 1st winter. "4 year" Gulls like Iceland don't get that look until 2nd winter.

Thanks for the comments! When cropping, I took slice off the left and bottom, but decided to keep the bird small in the frame to show off more flakes. I agree taking a bit more would make it a more powerful image though!

Happy shooting!

Brandon

[James Salywoda]

Awesome great comp. Brandon this is very nice I love the wing position captured. and the intense snow fall.

[Raymond Barlow]

very well done Brandon, the snow and treed bg really works well.

[John Chardine]

This is magnificent Brandon! I seem to always manage just lines of movement as the snow falls, usually in low light, but you have captured them as we see them. Love the light on the bird as well and the colour of the saddle of the bird and BG is a match!

[Dean Ingwersen]

Love it...awesome dorsal view, and the snow just screams atmosphere. Do agree with previous composition suggestions though. Great work.

[Melvin Grey]

Perfect, IMO, position on the gull - wing and tail spread and head turn - plus, with the effect of the falling snow, you have really captured an emotive image putting the gull in its element. This is most certainly a 'keeper'. Thank you also for providing the forum with the opportunity to dispense some usefull info on gull identification - we really get out 'money's worth' here!

[paul leverington]

Brandon, this for me is absolutely magnificent. Absolutely moving. I can see what Artie is saying about the comp., but I'm also looking at this in a different way since the large expanse of snow filled sky is a very powerful comp. element. As magnificent as the bird is, the sky actually has just a little more power, but since it is so interesting I think thats ok. So the balance tips to the sky every so slightly for power--a very delicate balance at that though. One thought would be that you could add even more sky and still have a great comp. I would make up a few different comps and see what others pick as their favorite. I favor the one you have presented here or one with even more snow filled sky--but would easily recieve a cropped in version also. It's just that great of a shot. Love the overall blue tones and the fact they are echoed in the back feathers of the bird too.

Paul

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Paul, I love the image too. I guess the very best answer would to have created the original image with the bird well back in the frame and lots of snow against that wonderful dark BKGR.

Adding canvas right would be a challenge as the blues get darker right before the frame edge....

[paul leverington]

This shot is like a magnet--I've been back like five times. If it were mine I'd probably try and take some canvas from the next shot if I wanted to try and expand--presumably that would have a lot of the darker blue. Honestly, within reason, I don't know how you could do a "bad " crop on this one. Brandon you gotta be awlful proud of this one.

I always appreciate images that take what is to most people a perceived less glamorous subject, and using strong artist composition fundamentals, make it into a powerful image. Like gulls and sparrows. I like the visual impact of so many of these bird shots being posted--But I LOVE the emotional impact of an artistic shot way more. And this one is the bomb Brandon. Dam this is sweet!!

Paul

Hey--I never did colors before---that's pretty neat!!

[Simon Bennett]

Wonderful image, the bird is sharp with good pose and the snow fantastic.