Ring-billed gull

Gallery: AvianPosted August 16, 201191 views7 comments

Date Shot: 8/12/2011 17:49:19.17
World Time: UTC-5, DST:ON
Image Quality: Lossless Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Artist:
Copyright:
Image Comment:
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D300
Lens: 70-210mm F/4-5.6
Focal Length: 125mm
Focus Mode: AF-C
AF-Area Mode: Single
AF Fine Tune: OFF
Aperture: F/13
Shutter Speed: 1/640s
Exposure Mode: Shutter Priority
Exposure Comp.: +0.3EV
Metering: Spot
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 400

This surely is a most humble subject. . . no exotic rarely seen creature in this shot, but to me it makes up for its commonness by the extreme grace and beauty of its form. . . I love taking sea gull shots and I've taken literally 1000's of them. A friend calls them my rat with wings shots. . . but never-the-less to be able to capture something so beautiful is magical to me.

In the original, there is a drop of water which has just fallen off the birds middle toe on its right leg. . .(it can only just be seen here) that drop is clearly in focus. These new cameras are amazing in their ability. . .

This was taken during my families recent vacation at Wolf Lake, in Michigan. Here are the coordinates of the pier where the shot was gotten:

43°15'18.10"N
86° 5'44.95"W

I appreciate your comments,

Dave

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 16, 2011 at 10:31 PM

Very graceful and great lines. Your comp emphasizes this well.
I agree that gulls are under-rated - they can be fine subjects and especially good to practice BIF and exposures on.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 16, 2011 at 10:54 PM

Nice detail and excellent exposure, David. I like the composition.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on August 16, 2011 at 11:00 PM

nice pose and comp, Dave. I agree that gulls are interesting subjects, although they don't get a lot of love around here. maybe a little bright on the forehead, but hard to judge on my laptop without a larger version.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on August 17, 2011 at 1:02 AM

Nice and sharp David. I also like the incoming flight pose. The composition feels a little bit tight to me on the bottom and right side. I love gulls as much as the other birds and glad they are doing well in numbers.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on August 17, 2011 at 5:53 PM

Good flight shot and nice job with showing details in the whites, not an easy thing to do, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 19, 2011 at 7:16 PM

Nice wing stretch, great flight shot.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 12, 2015 at 7:46 PM

I agree, the seagull's grace & form as seen in flight is unsurpased.

Great job of showing it here in what looks like a banking turn.

Your comment "These new cameras are amazing in their ability. ." reminds me of my experience when I went from P&S to DSLR.

The level of detail was amazing, & inspired me when I was new to photography..

Well done David devil

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments