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Black-headed Gull


Black-headed Gull
Photo Information
Copyright: Adrian Hutton (aido) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1097 W: 168 N: 1218] (4046)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-06-23
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D2X, Nikkor AF-S ED 28-70mm f/2.8, DxRAW ISO 250
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/1250 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-09-04 12:39
Viewed: 1806
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 70
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus). The birds in the background are Puffins, Sandwich Terns and Arctic Terns.

A small gull which breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory, wintering further south, but some birds in the milder westernmost areas of Europe are resident. Some birds will also spend the winter in the northeastern United States. This one was at the Farne Islands in north-east England, off the Northumberland coast.

This gull is 38-44cm long with a 94-105 cm wingspan. It breeds in colonies in large reedbeds or marshes, or on islands in lakes, nesting on the ground. Like most gulls, it is highly gregarious in winter, both when feeding or in evening roosts. It is not a pelagic species, and is rarely seen at sea far from coasts.

The Black-headed Gull is a bold and opportunist feeder, which will scavenge in towns or take invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish.

In flight, the white leading edge to the wing is a good field mark. The summer adult has a chocolate-brown head (not black, despite the name), pale grey body, black tips to the primary wing feathers, and red bill and legs. The hood is lost in winter, leaving just dark vertical streaks.
This species takes two years to reach maturity. First year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood.

Shutter 1/1250
Aperture f/6.3
Exposure bias -0.67
ISO 250
Focal length 70mm
Hand-held

Post-processing:
Crop (20%)
Sharpen (USM)
Resize and frame.

---
Alex99, taba, carper, marhowie, liquidsunshine, Hil, horia, Dando, jcoowanitwong, vanderschelden, scottevers7, claudine, Gudule, dew77, SkyF, thor68, sily, snowfalken, RAP, Luc, saguzar, coasties has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Luc: Bonsoir Lucaido 3 09-16 09:15
To thor68: Hi Thoraido 1 09-12 21:42
To scottevers7: Hi Scottaido 1 09-05 10:38
To Dando: Hi Deanaido 2 09-05 02:54
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1836 W: 94 N: 2338] (8400)
  • [2006-09-04 12:44]

Hi Adrian,
Perfect capture of this gull flying. Great details, good control of exposure and beautiful colors of the bird and clouds and an absolutely motionless image.
TFS, José M.

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3030 W: 148 N: 4521] (14603)
  • [2006-09-04 12:47]

Hi Adrian.
Very nice in flight shot. I am amazed with expressive colourful sky. It is wonderful BG for great bird. Composition, farming and quality of gull reproduction are superb. TFS and my best regards,
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • taba Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 463 W: 126 N: 268] (1508)
  • [2006-09-04 12:50]

Hi Adrian
That´s a very good capture, good composition, POV and sharpness, but I think that the best here is the fantastic deep grey background.
well done.
Taba

Hello Adreain, excllent capture in flight photo, excllwent colors, bg, POv DOF perfect dwork, TFs Kyle

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2167 W: 124 N: 2567] (8208)
  • [2006-09-04 13:10]

it's a beauty my friend,
a very good capture and what a quality, great point of view, good composition, very good job.
gr. jaap

  • Great 
  • osse Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1029 W: 0 N: 90] (7745)
  • [2006-09-04 13:40]

Nice captured Adrian
Good colours, sharpnes, details, DOF and POV.
Well done mf

osse

Nice work Adrian.
Very good DOF, sharpness, detail, POV, and framing..
Interesting BG with the cloud formation in layers & the OOF gulls there. Great exposure with the eye clearly seen, even with that dark head ;)
Very well done.

Hi Adrian,

Superb inflight picture. You rendered properly the color of this gull with a nice cloudy blue-gray background.

Amazing !!!

A really good capture Adrian,
The details are nice, clear and sharp.
superb colours, lighting and exposure. The POV is brilliant.
Well composed.
Thanks for posting, have a great week.

  • Great 
  • Hil Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 744 W: 11 N: 1406] (4831)
  • [2006-09-04 14:47]

Hi Adrian,

Superb inflight shot, the pose is excellent and show the shape of the wings beautifully, the detail is lovely and sharp, great clours and I like the BG with of other gulls flying around.

TFS Hilary :)

  • Great 
  • Bufo Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 422 W: 71 N: 984] (4241)
  • [2006-09-04 14:50]

Hi Adrian,
beautiful capture you have here. The gulls in the background give some depth to the picture.
Jacob

  • Great 
  • Zeno Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 475 W: 0 N: 926] (7973)
  • [2006-09-04 14:55]

Hi Adrian,

Its the day of the flying gulls. This one is very sharp. Great timing and wel exposed.
TFS.

regards,
Zeno.

Hi Adrian,
Amazing picture! For me, everything are perfect! Great work!

Regards,
João

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2597 W: 133 N: 7441] (23193)
  • [2006-09-04 16:09]

Hello Adrian.
Lovely clarity and light of this in-flight shot. A great study in greys!
TFS, regards, Ivan

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2078 W: 216 N: 3757] (12468)
  • [2006-09-04 16:48]

Hi Adrian

Came back to one of the first things you mastered? (in-flight birds) :)
Anyway, a really great post with the summer coating of this splendid gull. Excellent exposure management, very nice contrast, great sharp details and POV.
Very well done...as usual :)

Bravo and TSF
Horia

  • Great 
  • Dando Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 643 W: 32 N: 790] (3052)
  • [2006-09-04 17:49]
  • [+]

Hi Adrian, what is your secret to excellent inflight shots, mine always end in disaster. Great focus and details, also you have handled a very difficult exposure well with the black and white bird and with it being against the sky. BRILLIANT! well done and TFS.
Dean.

Hi Adrian,
A perfect picture, nothing to complain. Nicely composed. Great sharpness and clarity. Interestig place that home to many species of birds. TFS.
JC

Hello Adrian,
A good one, Adrian!
Great light and clouds, unsharp and not distracting birds in BG, detailed and sharp gull!!
TFS
Annick

Hi Adrian,
An excellent in-flight shot on this Black-headed Gull. Nice moody effect to the scene with that cloud covered backround. Detail and colors in the plumage look great. Waiting for those posts from TEXAS to start coming in!
Scott

Hi Adrian,
This is a beautiful shot of this Gull in flight. I like the details and composition with the other birds flying in BG. Colors are very nice with good POV. TFS,
Claudine

Hi Adrian,
I like the moment you've catched here. The gull is in its beautiful glide path. The dark clouds and the OOF gulls in the BG give it a very good mood.
TFS,
Niek

  • Great 
  • Gudule Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 248 W: 11 N: 288] (1204)
  • [2006-09-06 12:24]

Vous êtes vraiment l'expert en photos d'oiseaux en vol. Une photo majestueusement présentée. C'est spectaculaire et pourtant, remplie de simplicité.
Un ciel, un oiseau en vol et une oeuvre d'art comme résultat. Bravo, Adrian. Une autre de mes favorites.

JN.

  • Great 
  • mbasil Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 348 W: 146 N: 706] (3059)
  • [2006-09-06 12:48]

Wonderfully composed, Adrian. I am a big fan of subdued colors (though you'd never guess it from my pictures) and you pull this off wonderfully. Freud might say this a metaphor for you flying away...
Mike

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2006-09-08 13:35]

Hello Adrian,
Wonderful in flight capture.POV,details,framing,lighting and composition are excellent.
TFS...:-)

Hi Adrian,
Perfect picture.
TFS.

hAyAti

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991] (8113)
  • [2006-09-11 19:24]

Hello Adrian,
great shot, and what a perfect DOF to get perfect sharpness from (wing) tip to tip. Very detailed and wonderful sharp. Beautiful composition also, I like the POV and the wonderful depth in this shot.
TFS..Sky

hi adrian, how are things in the states?
no new photos yet? *g*
this one is excellent as usual, just two things that i noticed -
the underneath of the wings looks a bit dark and i would have
given it less space on the left and more on the right...but
that´s just my humble taste. *g*
otherwise perfect and well timed inflight-shot against a
great dramatic sky.
well done & take care, thorsten.

  • Great 
  • sily Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 252 W: 6 N: 391] (1859)
  • [2006-09-13 8:39]

Hi Adrian!
See you're busy again, nice shot really interesting stormy BG, love the light effects on wing feathers,good focus on the bird and blured BG,I like it, It's so light against the darkness kin of photo!Cheers!

Hallo Adrian,

It's good to see new photos from you! I chose to comment on this picture because it seems to me it is a good example that supports the ideea that the best pictures do not follow any rules. Although I can make some analogy with the rule of thirds, this picture simply looks great and I don't know why. I think it's useless to speak about colors when the main issues here are exposure and focusing. Even when clouded, the sky is still too bright and causes problems when used as BG. As I can see, you did a great job biasing the exposure towards negative and solving the problem of backlighting. I wonder if this works the same for all camera types? This is a technique I wish to learn although my 200 mm lens isn't great for bird photography.
The second big issue is focusing and you handled it perfectly as usually. Shall I presume you used manual focus? Because I never focus properly using autofocus in similar conditions.
Artistically, your picture is just as great as technically! The composition is simple since there are few elements in the picture, leaving enough space to breath for the gull, without placing it in the middle. The perfect sharpness is the result of mastering the focusing technique and therefore I won't comment on it. Using a relatively wide aperture, you added depth to the picture, having the birds in the BG OOF. This was a great ideea because there were no other elements available to show perspective and the BG was relatively bright, at least in the upper side of the picture. This shows again the experience of the photographer.
On top of all these you added a very informative note, giving me the chance to learn about birds that don't live in my area. This completes your post! A wonderful job! Thanks!

Good night,
Eddie

  • Great 
  • RAP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2524 W: 345 N: 2373] (7405)
  • [2006-09-15 7:46]

No es perfecta... pero se le parece.
Excelente captura en vuelo con gran control de la luz en condiciones desfavorables.
Gran DOF y agudeza, que permite apreciar los detalles del plumaje incluso sobre las áreas blancas.
Buen trabajo amigo mío.
Saludos... Ricardo

Its not perfect... but it is likened.
Excellent capture in flight with great control of the light in condition unfavorable.
Great DOF and sharpness that it allows to appreciate the details of the plumage included on the white areas.
Good work my friend.
Regards... Ricardo

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2058 W: 315 N: 4404] (14713)
  • [2006-09-15 17:24]
  • [+]

Une superbe photo que voilà, Adrian.
J'adore l'atmosphère qui s'en dégage.
La présence d'autres oiseaux en vol ajoute énormément de perspective à ta photo. Les ciels nuageux sont mes préférés.

Bravo et merci.

Hi Adrian,
Very arful capture. Love the brooding background and the smaller out of focus birds. You must have been mighty close to be getting this sort of capture with the 28-70mm.
Cheers
paul

Hello Adrian,
Muy buena composición, me gusta como se ve esa tormenta, bien oscura y con el aspecto de producir abundante lluvia. Excelentes detalles de la gaviota, parece congelada; también me gustan las otras aves a lo lejos.
Saludos
Hernán

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1654 W: 79 N: 1456] (4742)
  • [2006-10-12 16:48]

Hi Adrian,

I like this shot a lot. The dark clouds form an excellent backdrop for the white/grey gull. The pose of the bird is great and the focus is amazingly sharp. Exposure is very good too. Well done & TFS!

Regards,
Pieter

Hi Adrian

Great in-flight shot. Love the diagonal composition. Nice work. :-)

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-08-07 21:38]

Hello Adrian

A beautiful in flight shot of this Black-headed Gull.The focus and sharpness are very good.The plumage detail is excellent and you have managed good lighting despite what appears to be a cloudy day.Interesting POV.

Rob

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