Congrats on the image, Ivan! I like your choice of DOF and your choice of composition. Overall, I think it's a strong image but I did see a few quick, easy tweaks that could be done.
I lightened/brightened the image a bit with a curves adjustment because it felt a little bit "muddy" to me. I also selected the eye and the inside of the mouth and brought up the light in both of those just a bit more so we could see more detail. You had a nice catchlight in the eye but you could barely see it in your post. These are all just suggestions meant to give you some thought as to small tweaks to make your strong image even better. Lovely work and congrats again!
Really nice pose, as a general rule I do not use ISO 100 - in nature photography usually 200 and 400 with Canon non-pro bodies. Remember, every time you double the ISO you gain a stop of light - supports faster shutter. Birds are moving all the time - even when they seem still. That why may use Al Servo as well. (this is a way to getting fine feather detail in your images).
I like what Julie did with the eye, getting the right light on the face and making the eye stand out is a key element to bird photography, IMO.
Nice job capturing this species - let's see some more.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 08-22-2010 at 07:32 AM.
Yellow-legged Gull
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