Guess I Was Confused...

[Arthur Morris]

Something different: Herring Gull and Sanderlings. Nickerson Beach. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the 1.4X III TC and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/500 sec. at f/25. Central sensor (by necessity)/AI Servo rear focus AF and re-compose.

Not sure what I was thinking with ISO 800 and f/25, but.....

About a 50% crop. Replaced head of gull with sharper head from another frame with a better head angle. Lots of clean-up.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

Will run this on the blog tonight and post a link so that you can see the washed out pieces of junk that gave birth to this. (Note: if you have seen this image please do not comment on the blog post and spoil the fun. Thanks.) BTW, this is the link.

[Don Lacy]

Love the concept not to sure about the execution my main problem is the small bird under the gull it breaks the clean graphic line of the gull and with the merger it looks like you have one deformed subject instead of two separate ones.

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

I get Don's point from a graphic standpoint, but I think the bird walking under the gull actually makes the image for me! I like the juxtaposition of the different size birds. Like the gold color/silhouettes.

Cheers

Randy

[Richard Stern]

Hi,

I love the picture overall, and the combination of different sized birds, dark silhouettes, and gold background, works well for me. But I feel just the reverse of Randy - the gull looks as if it's walking on some kind of stilts and had me puzzled about what's going on with it. I also feel it would be better to lose the left hand Peep that is feeding, and partially blocking the bird behind it.


Richard

[gail bisson]

Artie,
That is one heck of a lot of PP work!I am not sure about this image. There is something about it that bothers me but I am not sure what it is. I do think the 2 peeps at the back that are blocking each other should be cloned out. I also am bothered by the specular highlights at the top of the frame. Because they create a line that slopes from left to right I feel the image should be rotated CCW a bit.
I am OK with the peep in front of the gull. Hmmm...I can't decide if I like this image or not...
I will look at this again tonight after work and see if I feel differently about it!
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

I am middle of the road on this one. While I really love the color and the idea of the central and surrounding birds in silhouette, the peep in front of the gull has bothered me since I first opened the image. I even like the highlights b/c they add interest.

[Mital Patel]

Guru ji,

I am not that expert eyed person as i seen blog and compared both what you did to make this.

Its **** lot of work and a great vision. Congratulate.

Just to give a thought i see image leaning right.
I like the inclusion of sanderling under herring gull. it really gives nice feeling to the image for me.

I would clone out that shadow of something which is not visible on the belly of the Gull.

[Arthur Morris]

Mital, The reflection in front of the gull's belly is from a Sanderling that is hidden behind the gull; would you remove it?

[Mital Patel]

Dear Guru ji,
To the best yes i would remove it.

yea it woud be the shadow of sanderling only but as the actual entire subject is hidden,
I really would not care to play hide and seek with it.