Play Nice, Children

[Mike Hannisian]

I shot this Lesser Black-backed Gull/Herring Gull interaction at Cape May Point SP, NJ, early Nov last year. Nothing has been added to this image, but I did remove a number of other birds that were in the background. I used a Canon 7D with a Canon 300mm f/2.8 (I) with a Canon 2.0x II teleconverter. I hand held the rig. My ISO was 500 @ F/16 and 1/500 second.

[arash_hazeghi]

interaction is great but details look soft to me I am not sure about f/16 with the 7D because it hits defraction limit and image will be soft. for small web presentation more sharpening might work. I do like the fight between the gulls! TFS

[Randy Stout]

Mike:

Great interaction, neat that both heads are clearly visible and towards us. Good job on removing the extra birds.

Your f/stop should have given great DOF, yet I find the birds not critically sharp, and unless the focus point was way off, have to assume we are seeing motion blur here.

I like the environmental component.

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

PS: Arash and I were typing at the same time. He was faster!

[Mike Hannisian]

I understand your point but I actually like the way it looks. (I guess that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.) Thanks for the input.

[Mike Hannisian]

Mike:

Great interaction, neat that both heads are clearly visible and towards us. Good job on removing the extra birds.

Your f/stop should have given great DOF, yet I find the birds not critically sharp, and unless the focus point was way off, have to assume we are seeing motion blur here.

I like the environmental component.

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

PS: Arash and I were typing at the same time. He was faster!

Not a problem. Yes, it is motion blur. I had been shooting the LBBG by itself when the HEGU intervened. As a result, I was at an ISO lower than I would have preferred in order to fully stop the action. Regardless, as noted above, I like the result. Frankly, I find that not having both birds entirely in focus encourages my eye mover to the birds' faces. Thanks for your input.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I like the interaction. What are they fighting over?

[Mike Hannisian]

I like the interaction. What are they fighting over?

Cheryl

I have no idea. The LBBG was seemingly minding its own business when the HEGU started getting in its face. Apparently birds can be as irrational as our species.

[Ofer Levy]

Nice interaction captured! I think the image is sharp - just needed some selective sharpening on the birds. Also converted to sRGB. SHutter speed was a bit too low for such action.

[Sid Garige]

Very nice interaction well captured Mike.

[Marina Scarr]

Great action captured but OP is not sharp to my eyes. Like Ofer's version looks sharper.

[Arthur Morris]

Killer action and excellent repost by my friend Ofer; he beat me to the punch! Centered would have worked well here. Great to see you here Mike! (Mike edited Gloria Hopkin's killer e-book "Natural Design" and did a stellar job of it.)

[Mike Hannisian]

I see the difference to which Ofer refers and agree it is an improvement.