Ring-Billed Gull

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm f/4 at 75mm
Handheld

ISO 640
1/2500
f/5.6

Took this at the tail end of the wood ducks workshop with Matthew Studebaker in Ohio a couple weeks ago, we'd gone over to Conneaut on Lake Erie, and, after photographing some Bonaparte's gulls and sanderlings, we drove by an area where some people were feeding gulls, mostly ring-billed. Matthew suggested we use wide angle lenses, which was a great recommendation. I got some neat shots of individual gulls as well as groups of gulls this way, as we stood near the folks feeding them and caught the birds doing quite a bit of hovering. The light was sort of pinkish golden as the sun was setting and it lit the gulls up nicely. I liked the dynamic pose in this shot.

I struggled a little bit with the processing of this, needed to tame the whites a bit and did this in Highlights recovery. I also lightened a couple areas in Viveza. Selective sharpening and some added saturation of the sky. Some NR.

I hope you like it. Greatly appreciate all comments and critiques.

[Randy Stout]

Melissa:

This is quite nice, with a different perspective than we usually see. The combination of the light and your post makes the subject pop. Despite the merge of head and wing, they still separate well visually.
Like the clouds

I do like the second gull in the BG. Suspect some would prefer it without.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Melissa, I like the warm colours in this - your recovery has turned out very well. I do like this inflight posture, and the clouds certainly add interest. Sharp where it counts.

[Alan Murphy]

The wide angle makes this one special. Sweet image. I'm one that finds the OOF bird distracting.

[Tom Rambaut]

I like the clouds and the soft colours. I would have two versions, with and without the BG bird.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent pose, and the perspective provided by the short focal lenght is special. Your processing looks good. Like Alan, I'm another in the "second gull is distracting" camp Very well done Melissa...perfect for the theme.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks to all for the comments. Here is a version without the other gull. I am thinking now I prefer it too.

[Gary Esman]

Hi Melissa, Love the pose here, one of my favorites for in flight shots. The dangling feet and flared tail put this over the top for me. I could go either way with the second gull. It does balance the shot IMO. Keeps my eyes looking throughout the whole picture. Very very nice. Keep them coming!

Gary.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the bird, the pose, and the 2nd bird too. Love that the head is nicely positioned against the white tertials of the far wing. I would love to see it with a tad less saturation and a tad less contrast.....

[Dan Behm]

Melissa,
Wow this has a really great feel to it, Love the unique and interesting pose making this very dramatic. The image has great depth to it as well, I like both images and agree I would have them both, however I think I prefer the repost. sensational work!

[Melissa Groo]

Love the bird, the pose, and the 2nd bird too. Love that the head is nicely positioned against the white tertials of the far wing. I would love to see it with a tad less saturation and a tad less contrast.....

Thanks Artie, great point, here it is looking a bit more natural, incorporated your suggestions...

[Arthur Morris]

Better. Here's a tip: compare the original image with the optimized image before closing your master file in Photoshop (or wherever). If it looks a bit garish by comparison, tone it down. It only took me a decade of doing digital to learn that lesson. I have recently set my ACR defaults to 0 for both Vibrance and Saturation and lowered Brightness to 25 and Contrast to 13.....

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful image. Love the pose, excellent head angle, real nice light and background. I prefer the last repost.
Well done.

[Melissa Groo]

Better. Here's a tip: compare the original image with the optimized image before closing your master file in Photoshop (or wherever). If it looks a bit garish by comparison, tone it down. It only took me a decade of doing digital to learn that lesson. I have recently set my ACR defaults to 0 for both Vibrance and Saturation and lowered Brightness to 25 and Contrast to 13.....

Thanks for your comments, Artie. You make excellent points here. When tempted to make the image "pop" more, I sometimes go heavyhanded on the Contrast and the Vibrance, and need to learn to hold back more! Comparing the two side by side will help rein me in...

[Doug Brown]

Fabulous image Melissa! I like the 2nd bird in the frame. The last repost is my favorite.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks a lot, Doug!