Seagull and Bridge/Repost

Hi Randy:

An interesting attempt. For me the gull is too centered left to right. I would want less space on the left and more on the right since that is the general direction the bird is looking. A higher shooting angle would have provided more room between the gulls head and the bridge. As is, it feels pretty tight. The lighting is pretty harsh. Looks like you managed to hold the detail in the brightest whites, so if you were to attempt brightening the image, it would have to be selective areas to avoid blowing out the whites.

Keith has given good advice. I would add, since you start with RAW, that you can make some adjustments in LR to brighten the dark shadows and darken the bright brights. In moderation, it should improve the starkness of the gull.

The interesting Bay Bridge BG makes the shot, a great combination of landscape & avian Randy.
Might also go well in the man & nature slot here

Hi Keith, Phil, and Howard: Thank you for the suggestions. Rather than work with the same picture with the gull crowded into the bridge, here is the same subject that has more space and room to its right. In LR4, the tone settings have been tweaked to bring out some in the feathers without blowing out the whites (I think). Please let me know if you believe this image show improvement and what can be done to make it better. The picture has been cropped to the left and right, so those areas could be brought back into view.