Gull in Flight

Gallery: AvianPosted February 17, 2016145 views8 comments

I'm not completely sure of the species. The usual suspect for Seabeck is the Herring Gull, but my field guides indicate a yellow eye for that species. The Western Gull might fit, but the mantle seems rather pale for that species. Anyhow, I ran across this image from 2014 while browsing through old files and decided it was worth processing.

1D4, 500 mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC, I don't remember what kind of support I was using, but probably a Jobu gimbal on either Gitzo or RRS legs, f/5.6, 1/640, iso 1000, manual exposure. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Cropped to 13.2 MP before resizing. A few oof clumps of oysters digitally removed. Taken at Big Beef Creek near Seabeck, Washington at 6:58 AM on May 26th, 2014.

Your comments and criticisms are appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Elizabeth Holbrook on February 17, 2016 at 9:25 PM

Splendid composition. I like the framing. Great image of the difficult white body bird. Nice detail and light.

Registered on May 6, 2015, 43 Posts, 221 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on February 17, 2016 at 10:50 PM

Reddish legs, pinkish eyering, mediumgrey, no black in wings and white subterminal spots in primaries = Glaucous-winged Gull. Perhaps a bit pale which could imply some Glaucous Gull genes in the mix. But mostly Glaucous-winged. Breeding plumage, too.

Excellent shot, Dennis. Beautiful work on the whites, and the prey is a big bonus.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on February 18, 2016 at 5:45 AM

Wow, what a great moment you captured ! There's nothing not to like, even the position of the fish is perfect ! Congrats ! devil

, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 18, 2016 at 4:06 PM

I"m with Jim - Glaucous-winged Gull.

This is an excellent image in every way. I love the angle you captured here, and the fish. The understsated colors are also very nice.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 18, 2016 at 6:00 PM

Thanks Jim and Richard for the ID and all of you for the comments.

crying

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 18, 2016 at 8:53 PM

Sweet comp for this action shot Dennis, love the open mouth of the fish. You could maybe try to pull a bit more light out of the eye with a selective adjustment. I agree on Glaucous-winged Gull. devil

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on February 19, 2016 at 9:36 AM

Really nice, Dennis. The overall monotone of the picture works well for a coastal image.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by mark cillo on February 21, 2016 at 9:59 AM

Really nice capture with the fish, the detail is incredible in the larger version. crying

Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments