Ring-billed Gulls Blast-off Pan-blur.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Had an extra hour yesterday after work so headed out to a nearby beach that has been very quiet these past few months. Still quiet, but a colony of Ring-billed Gulls were roosting quietly. As I was scanning them for unsusuals or rarities I could see them starting to stir. Glancing back I noted a jogger...they normally plow right through listening to their ipods no mater if birders or photographers are around (I really think they are in a bubble and don't notice that type of stuff!). Nobody else around for what seems like miles so of course that is where the jogger is headed!! Anyhow, I knew these guys were going to lift off, so I quickly set up for blurs and just as I got the settings down the flock lifted (I have one of my "Custom settings" set to TV mode and low shutter speeds from this)...this was the only good one out of a burst of four. What could have been very frustrating was turned into an opportunity...

Canon 7D + 100-400L @105mm, shutter priority, evaluative metering, 1/13s., f/11, ISO 100, +1.7 EC, handhled, cropped from bottom but otherwise FF, lots of contrst added and deepened the blacks via selective colour, and toned down the dark blue line cutting across the flock via didge tool.

[gail bisson]

Daniel,
You have posted some amazing shots but this is the best -and I don't usually like blurs! The blues and golds are wonderful and the pattern of the birds is very pleasing to the eye. 10 out of 10 on this one. I love it,
Gail

[Ofer Levy]

Wonderful! Like Gail I usually don't like blurs but this is beautiful! Very well done!!

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Nicely captured, quick thinking. What really makes it outstanding for me are the blurred grasses in the foreground. Look like fine brush strokes in a painting. The contrast work to give the birds some more pop also helps, as often blurs are so indistinct that you lose sense of the individual birds.

Well done!

Cheers

Randy

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty Daniel! I wouldn't change a thing.

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Daniel, this is amazing!

[Gary Esman]

Hey Daniel, this is incredible, the ole' double thumbs up here. The only thing I would change is the name at the LLC.

Gary

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely photo Daniel. Just the right amount of detail in gulls at 1/13. The three toned layered bg adds a lot. From your intro I am guessing that is a beach in the fg which is blurred by the tracking motion of the camera. Whether sand or grass it adds a lot to the up and away movement of the birds.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

One heck of a shot and very masterfully done. inspiring stuff. what makes this succesful is that there are so many clear heads and eyes.

[Bill Dix]

Love it! All is said above - the sharply defined heads contrasted with blurred wings, layered bg, exposure spot on. Well anticipated and captured.

[dankearl]

Awesome. Having just a couple in focus really makes this, but your processing skills is what
takes it over the top.

[Mike Landwehr]

Daniel, what a wonderful blur! One of my all-time favorites! Love the blues and browns in the background. The presence of parts of the flock against each of the three stripes of color ties provides unity, and softens the demarcation between the three stripes. So many sharp eyes, yet blurred wings! The blurred sand makes a great foreground. A wall-hanger for sure!

[Brendan Dozier]

That's a work of art, Daniel, nicely done!

[Dan Busby]

I love this one Daniel. With those three distinct bands in the bkgr this could almost become a nations flag! I was looking it over to decide if it had a real focal point. To do so, I squinted my eyes to blur the image and then it pops - the darker bird on the center left comes out. It's not real strong but it's there. This inspires me to start working on some creative ventures. Thanks!

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice, shots like this often don't work and are very hard to pull but you certainly succeeded here...great job

[Jim Fenton]

Absolutely love this...period.