This image was made a few weeks back while laying in the mud with Philip Pietri out at Ft. Desoto. A low tide in the morning can be a magical time out there. I was making tight portraits when this Gull decided to yawn. I wished the head angle was just a hair more toward the image plane.
Other than the very the slight head turn, I think the image is really powerful, and captures emotion and expression. Excellent! Also, very nice smooth background, nice and sharp (can see all the feathers on the head!) Very, very nice!
Open up and say "AHHH" I like it as is. Sometimes perfect is the enemy of good; I don't see a big improvement that could be made by a slight head turn in this case, but that's just me.
Ah, yes. I remember this. I watched this happen as I was fixing my camera, which was having a heart-attack at the moment! I always miss the good shots! Great job here, Bahlf. You got him at the height of the action and the detail is incredible.