BAA Bulletin 308 - ONE IMAGE/SO MAY LESSONS:

[Alan Lillich]

I'm hoping Artie will see this and comment here for all to learn ...

(If you haven't read bulletin 308 yet, this is the image about 1/3 of the way down of Artie shooting a Heerman's gull while standing.)

A missing #9 - How the heck did you get so close to the gull standing up? I have a hard time crawling within 30 or 40 feet of gulls - and that only when they are sitting. Even allowing for foreshortening, it looks like you're within 3 shadow lengths.

Alan

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

If I am a bird and Arthur Morris is going to take my portrait and send it to thousands of bird lovers, I would stay put.

Kidding apart, excellent question and I hope Artie will share the secret.

[Jamie Strickland]

probably depends on the area, in some locations the birds are easy to get near and others its near impossible

I have been to places where gulls will practically eat out of your hands

its like being in yellowstone some of the elk will walk right to you and you have to keep moving away from them, most other places you have no hope of getting remotely close to them

[Aidan Briggs]

In many areas of California, gulls are often this tame. I have gotten within 5 or so feet of Heerman's and other gulls on several occasions.

[Alan Lillich]

Aidan,

Which parts of CA are they tame for you? They aren't for me on the beaches that I have tried between Point Lobos and Half Moon Bay. If the gull is sitting I can crawl to maybe 30 feet. If the gull is standing I can crawl to maybe 50 feet then they either walk to maintain their space or fly away. If I'm standing that seems to become 100 to 150 feet.

Maybe I need to shower more. Or less.

Alan

[Rob Miner]

Its not body odor, its your deodorant! Try a can of sardines. :)

Rob...............

[Aidan Briggs]

Hey Alan, If you are going for portraits and don't care what the bird is standing on, try any town or city that has a fishing pier, wharf etc. As Artie's bulletin shows the gulls in San Diego are pretty tame. Areas with a well established fishing industry are usually productive. Note that when they are in big groups (during migration in july-september) they are much more skittish. Lone birds are more cooperative.

Here is an image made with my 100-400 on a beach in Morro Bay, CA. In SLO county on the central coast

[Aidan Briggs]

Here is another image made in Goleta, just above Santa Barbara. Again with the 100-400

I forgot to mention that on the first image I did crawl on my belly towards it.

[Aidan Briggs]

Forgot to mention: many birds are tamer in SoCal than up north.

[Buddy Eleazer]

are you saying SoCal is more laid back? :)

[Aidan Briggs]

No, but the human population is much denser, and the birds are often more used to people.

[Christopher C.M. Cooke]

Its not body odor, its your deodorant! Try a can of sardines. :)

Not as silly as it sounds, I leave my clothes on the rocks at low tide covered with rocks I return after two tides put them in a plastic bag, take them home and hang them out to dry and bag them for my next trip.

Use cam cream on your face, don’t wear bright hats, wear dark cotton gloves and try again and you may be very surprised.

I have used this technique in South East Asia in the sixties, and decades of hunting and it works.

PS try to wear clothes of a similar to the colour to your surroundings.

No sense being in a hide stinking of garlic, BO, cigarettes, aftershave and fly spray.


PPS Try not to fa*t too much.:):)

[Alan Lillich]

Chris,

Thanks for the tips. I do tend to wear tan or brown pants and shirts for beach crawling, a tan or black baseball cap to keep the sun off my skull, but no camo cream and no gloves. Do you have an explanation of what the gloves do? Mostly I use a Nikon D300 plus 80-400, so the camera and lens are black.

thanks,
Alan

[Kevin Hall]

What part of your body is most likely to move when shooting? For me, my hands are. Since mine are light in color that movement gets broadcast big time. I wear gloves to tone down that transmission.

[Klaus von Schwanebach]

Hi Alan, as Jamie mentioned, some areas in Malibu, CA they steal food almost from the hand. People on the beach constantly have to chase them away from their snacks and lunches. They come in big groups, go for your bags and unpack eveything for food, potato chips, sandwiches etc. The restaurants on the beach also have big trouble since they go constantly to the tables messing up the ordered food, braking wine glasses and upsetting clients. One restaurant on the beach had to put up a big turning devise with wires (looks like a sort of helicopter) to keep gulls away from customer tables. You can come and get very close shots here, if you bring food they might even land on your head! or lens. You can see this every summer.