15.000th Post: Ivory Gull

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I thought an image of the Ivory Gull would go well with the milestone. I made this before sunrise and like the soft light and that it shows how well-insulated the bird is. The legs almost look like little boots. :) The bird has been relocated on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border yesterday.

If you are interested in conservation, here is an article that shows the precarious situation of this species: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetComm...=1309&type=aab

1D4, 500f4, 1.4x, 1/320s, f/8, EC +0.33, ISO 800

[Doug Brown]

Let me be the first to congratulate you on your milestone Axel! I may never even reach 15,000 posts, and the vast majority of yours are quality posts spanning a large number of different forums. Thanks for all your hard work! Nice image too! :)

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Fantastic!

I echo Doug's words. 15000 with quality images, critiques and comments is a pretty awesome record. Congratulations!

Thanks for sharing the information on the bird.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Harold Davis]

big congrats on 15,000!! the work you do here is amazing, both in the field and with your teaching here at bpn.

[denise ippolito]

Axel, This one is my favorites so far. I love the surf foam at it's feet and they do look like booties. The details are wonderful and the lighting and BG look very nice.
Congratulations on your milestone. You have made so many valuable contributions to this site. I appreciate all your help as well. You are indeed a "super " moderator.:);)

[Grace Scalzo]

Congrats, Axel, on this wonderful image and on your milestone. You are the perfect combination of talent, technique, hard work and enthusiasm. I have learned alot from you and look forward to your next 15,000.

[Markus Jais]

Congratulations, both on the 15.000th post and on the great shot. The image is beautiful. I like the warm light, the head turn and the bird standing at the water's edge.

Markus

[Randy Stout]

Axel:

Congratulations on this milestone, and a fine choice of image.
The story behind the bird is an important lesson about our impact on our beloved birds.
Makes me think twice about my carbon footprint, and the energy used to obtain our images. If we use them for education and to raise awareness of the birds plight, it is a win/win situation.

I always appreciate your comments, images and dedication to the site.

Randy

[Lorant Voros]

Axel,

I'd like to congratulate for the 15000th post and thank you for all your help to all of us. Reading your comments on any picture is like taking a workshop elsewhere.
Very well chosen image. Nice exposure, stepping pose, soft light, eye contact, mood with the foamy water and beautiful species.

[Gail Spitler]

Congrats would be due for seeing an Ivory Gull; then more congrats for getting any image of one; then more for getting such a superb image (light was perfect).
Stunning - just stunning.
And what a wonderful bird
Cheers
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Axel, congrats on your huge milestone, and Im sure one of your great finds to go with it. A thank you from me too, for all that you have contributed on this site, and for the expert critiques posted. Excellent exposure, love the angle, and glad you captured the shot before the surf bubbles covered his feet.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Congratulations Axel. That's a long way of posts! and they are full of good advise. Lovely bird and composition.

[LouBuonomo]

Congrats.. you work your butt of here and in the field.

Lou

[Jan Wegener]

you definitely nailed that one :) Awesome series

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely photo Axel and good for you for setting and maintaining such high standards in your photos, critiques and comments and for making such a positive contribution. Dave

[Declan Troy]

Excellent. Such a great capture of such a cool species is the milestone. 15K goes well with it. A wonder you have time to go in pursuit of photography with all the time you invest helping on this site.Thanks for your efforts.

[Steve Berkowitz]

Axel - I always look forward to your images and posts. Glad I had a chance to meet you at the dam Steve

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Super image, nice details and light. Sad story on the bird's survival outlook.

Amazing contribution you have provided to this community. Your objective evaluations are of great educational value. I for sure learned a lot from your feedback and tips. Thanks for that.

Are you saving these amazing kind of birds and images for major achieved milestones ... Ivory Billed Woodpecker @ 30.000 :D?

Thanks, Peter! I agree, it doesn't seem to look too good for these gulls and I hope they will recover if the levels of toxins decrease.

As for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker at 30k, I guess I'd better start drawing it. :)

[Paul Lagasi]

Axel, Congratulations..on 15,000..what a bird to reach the goal with...thank you for all your help and lovely images...Paul

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thank you for the kind words, it's much appreciated!

[Gal Shon]

Axel, Congratulations.
I'm sure every one of those 15,000 was genuine, truthful, with the right attitude and giving intention, thank you.
Not to forget those stunning well made images.
unfortunately I can't see this image.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Axel, Congratulations.
I'm sure every one of those 15,000 was genuine, truthful, with the right attitude and giving intention, thank you.
Not to forget those stunning well made images.
unfortunately I can't see this image.

Thank you, Gal, much appreciated! The image was hosted on pbase, which is a bit slow today, I just uploaded the image to the BPN server and it should be viewable now.

[Gal Shon]

It is, thanks.
You make it look so easy, a mega rare gull, and the set you got for him... superb work.
I think this is my favorite so far. a fantastic image.
The light ,surf foam and BG make this one standout.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Huge congrats Axel! It's fantastic to have you here as your insights into processing and technique are very thoughtful and expertly put. Well done mate and the gull speaks for all you stand for. Excellence. :)

[Ilija Dukovski]

Congratulations big time, that is one great image indeed and incredible milestone.
And thank you for all your comments and help. Hope to see many more of your spectacular
images in the future.

BTW Am I completely crazy or is is possible that you were birding around Umass Amherst in the
late 1990s. I was there in that period and for some reason I think I saw your name on MASSBIRD then.
Am I completely wrong here?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Congratulations big time, that is one great image indeed and incredible milestone.
And thank you for all your comments and help. Hope to see many more of your spectacular
images in the future.

BTW Am I completely crazy or is is possible that you were birding around Umass Amherst in the
late 1990s. I was there in that period and for some reason I think I saw your name on MASSBIRD then.
Am I completely wrong here?

Thanks, Ilija! I used to live in Northampton until 2008 and posted on Massbird occasionally. Fortunately, I still check what is going on up there, otherwise I would not have known about the Ivory Gull.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Thanks, Ilija! I used to live in Northampton until 2008 and posted on Massbird occasionally. Fortunately, I still check what is going on up there, otherwise I would not have known about the Ivory Gull.

I realized that when I saw your latest post on MASSBIRD about the gull. Good thing you still do check the list.

[arash_hazeghi]

way to go Axel, very nice image and congrats. I might sharpen the feathers a bit more due to soft light.

[Harshad Barve]

Congratulations, both on the 15.000th post and on the great shot. Way to go

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Axel, big congrats. I appreciate your feedbacks a lot and owe a lot of my improvement to you. Thanks a lot.

[Fabs Forns]

Super, congratulations and thanks for being you :)