Grey headed Gull

[Dave Barnes]

Just for something different.
All comments welcome.

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
ISO Speed 640
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/640

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Nicely exposed, nice swept forward wing position. To my eye, the focus is a bit sharper on the legs and tail than on the eye. Nice BG, like the comp.

Randy

[Dave Barnes]

Hi Randy.
Here is a cropped screen dump taken from ZoomBrowser showing focus point for what it is worth.
Looks like the focus point was on the head/bill?
Could be a bit soft due to SS?

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

beautiful pose,light,eye contact!

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice angle and wing position, composition is good too, beak and eye sharp. Hot spots can benefit from some burning.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good looking gull, and you got a beautiful pose outi of it. I love the far wing serving as a backdrop to the face. On my monitor I also see slight apparent softness on the eye and bill compared to the tail. The gull may have moved its head and caused some very subtle subject movement blur. I agree the hot spots on the neck could be toned down. BTW this is a magnificent BG, and judging from your "screen dump" you did a great job in bringing out the colours!

[Harshad Barve]

Fantastic pose, nice exposure , BG is killer
Lovely image
TFS

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Great pose. Love the shadow of the right wing on the body of the gull but not covering the head. Couldn't be better IMO. First reaction when I saw the image before reading the comments: hmmm, the tail looks sharper than the head. But it's still very good IMO. Great background. JR

[Charlie VanTassel]

I like the lighting, and of course that background. Very nice.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautifull done this, all siad above.. congrats.. loved it..

[Mital Patel]

this is a marvelous image. looks like a painting. Light is awesome .. Wingposition and the HA is just too good.

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Obviously, you were right on with the focus, so I think your thought on shutter speed explains it, as Daniel said, just a bit of motion in the head at that critical time.

Randy

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks guys for all the good comments/crits. They are all welcome.
Sorry that I have not had time to reply or comment on other posts earlier.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Classic one Dave, beautiful background, great posture, sweet light.

[christopher galeski]

very nice Dave,brilliant BG,nice comp,bird sharp were it needs to be,blured wings give it movment,nice one thanks.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Chris and Christopher for looking and for comments.