| Actual Image
Chase the Fish (26)
JPlumb
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 643 W: 160 N: 894]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (2837) | Silver Gulls (Larus novaehollandiae) are the most common seagulls in Australia. They are found throughout the continent, but of course primarily in the coastal regions. They do not often venture far out to sea.
They are very successful scavengers, and have thrived quite well around humans, readily pestering people for handouts, or they can be quite brazen and steal it from food that is momentarily unattended. They also eat worms, fish, insects and other crustaceans. Gulls are also very opportunistic among themselves and with other birds, and will readily steal each others food.
In this shot, the lead gull had captured or found a fish. It was obviously too large for it to handle quickly. The problem was, other gulls saw it before it was able to do anything with the fish. The chase was on. The other gulls chased this one until he eventually dropped the fish. Another one picked it up, and the chase was on again. I found it quite comical to watch, and loud, with all of their squawking. I enjoyed watching the pursuit. The one standing up front was quite indignant, demanding that the bird drop the fish, then you have a couple of gulls quietly standing in the background, content to just watch.
Some of this from: http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets/silver_gull.htm
ID from: Simpson K. and Day N. (2004), Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, Penguin Books, Camberwell
This shot is a bit of fun. It was taken in the middle of Canoe Pool in Newcastle (a wading pool built in the 30’s for children). I was set up for some scenery shots, with a wider angle lens than I would have wanted for these birds, but you do what you can with the tools available. With the wider angle, I had to crop down to present what you see here today. Members of TN are invited to view the large post .
Workflow for this shot was as follows:
The shoot – shot in Raw with Jpeg reference (55 mm ISO 250 f6.7 1/750)
NEF file adjusted for exposure, shadow, vignetting, brightness and contrast
Levels – adjusted for black points
Curves - adjusted RGB for contrast – very slight s-curve
Added saturation layer +20 to master
Saved as a tiff
for this post crop for position and size, resized, created a new layer, selectively sharpened through use of a mask layer, framed and saved as a jpeg
Backed up to the tiff, re-cropped for position and size (and to fit LP requirements), resized for large post, created a new layer, selectively sharpened through use of a mask layer, framed and saved as a jpeg. |
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