Gull on Post

However, I know that some people are offended by the use of numbers in photo critiques, so I only use them when I have specific permission (or request) from the poster to do so.

Permission granted!

Jim,
I love the eye contact made with the bird. I personally think the bird is to far to the left in the frame. I would also crop out the small section at the top or clone it to match the rest of the upper background. I like the soft colors but the whites look a little blown in areas of the face and neck. Overall the bird looks tack sharp in the important areas.

Hi Jim,
Excellent capture of the Ring-billed gull. I really like the head turn and the background is outstanding. I would like to see a little more space at the top of the photo and a bit less at the bottom. Not crazy about the 4x4 perch and would clone out the drop on top. Congrats on a fine image!

The techs look dead on here Jim. You've got the right idea on framing. I'd like to see the same composition but a little tighter in on the bird. The perch is less than desirable but you take what you can get sometimes! Overall, a nice image with perfect techs!

Hi Jim,
overall a nice photo; the clean out of focus BG provides separation from the subject. The techs are fine as well; the whites are well exposed and the detail is excellent

My only suggestion for composition would be to crop a little from the top to eliminate the (tilted?) horizon line, IMHO it is the sole minor distraction in this photo.

The post the gull stands on draws my eye because it is vertically and horizontally oblique to the photo edges. I would rotate the image so the post appears more parallel to the edges and also clone out the top of the picture as recommended by Randy. Otherwise an excellent capture.

...Ken

Jim,

first of all the technical execution of this image looks very good. The exposure is well done, because the whites show details everywhere. The image itself looks also very sharp. From composition point of view, I like the placement of the bird in the frame, since it fits with the pose of the bird, which sugest a view to the right site of the image. Here one finds open room into which the bird is "looking" to. The clean and uncluttered background it another plus for this image, also because of its blue color, which lets the gull stand out very nicely. I agree with previous comments to crop a bit from the top, to eliminate the slightly tilded shoreline at the horizon. I would also rotate the picture a bit clockwise to level the pole on which the gull is standing. I am sugesting this, since usually the poles are placed perpenticular, which is typical for this man made object

Hi Jim,

Your technical execution looks real good. And the composition works fine for me. The head turn is just enough to get good eye contact, a very important attribute to successful bird images in my opinion. As to the suggestion of my colleagues to rotate the image to straighten the pole, I'll have to disagree. The bird looks perfectly balanced as is, if you rotate the pole level, he'll look like he's falling over backward! My suggestion for the image would be to clone out the extraneous matter on the perch by his feet. It really doesn't add to the image, and is a slight distraction with its brightness. Overall I think you succeeded in making a fine portrait of this adult Ring-billed Gull.

Very nice image Jim,
the exposure of the whites and blacks looks very good as well as the sharp details of the bird, and nice OOF BG.
Because the Ring-billed Gull is looking back into and through the frame I feel the left side compostion is very good for this subject. My only suggestion might be, because of the body frame and positon of the gull, to make this a vertical pano image by cropping off most of the perch at the bottom and maybe only leaving about a ½ inch of the perch. And I also agree with the clone suggestion that the others have made with the matter at the gulls feet.
Well done. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Jim
I'll chime in too since you asked.

First, the technical aspects of this image are good. The details in the whites and the shadows are there although there is a little loss of detail in the black feathers that could have been helped with a little flash.

Second, the composition works pretty well too. Leaving room for the bird to look into is important as is leaving space in that direction. The space suggests that if the bird were to take off at this moment it would have room to move into.

Third, the question of impact. Here there is definite room for improvement I think. While this is the type of scene we often see, if you had been able to get the gull doing something like calling or preening the shot would have had much more punch and attracted the viewer's attention and interest.

In all I feel this is a good photo for an identification purpose but would like to see some more dramatic behaviour to put this into the WOW category.

Hope this is of some help.

When the subject looks at the photographer the story behind the image gets diluted or there is no story. The image then need to stand on the merits of its asthetics alone- color,contrast, beauty of the bird.. Asthethically I am sure you would have preferred different perch etc but I love those eyes - looking at some possibilities. To me there is a hidden story and subtle dynamics in this apparently static image which makes it more interesting...

As a novice "critiquer" let anyone feel free to say "yeah or nay" on my comments.

1 - agree about the cleaning up the top of the post.
2 - rotating the image. I think I might rotate so the the back leg is vertical. The bird shouldn't feel like it is toppling, but the post will be a little straighter.
3 - I agree that a small amount of cropping might improve things.
4- background. The background is nice but to me is very bright relative to the bird. It tends to take my eyes away from the bird. I've read about people burning it the edges to push the eyes back into the photo. I might try it on something like this photo. (although, I wonder what the experts think about this idea.)

Nice shot and clean image. I like the ruffle in the feathers, adds a little dynamic element.

This image is nicely composed and technically almost perfect. However, I have to agree with Ed Dubois that it is just a registration of a gull. Very nice for identification porposes. It however lacks some action, like a little crab in its beak, to make it a WOW picture that I would like to buy and display it in my office or house.

Hi Jim,

A gull on a post is typical but you have turned this image into something special.

The turn of the gull's head toward the center of the image, the tuft of feathers on his neck, and the post production work are great.

You asked for suggestion on improving the image. I might consider adding a deeper shade of blue to the background in to lower portion of the photo and graduating it to the present shade of blue at the top. And without trying it, I'm not sure if it would work. Simply an idea.

Thanks for sharing.

Carol