Gull Flight

Hi Jerry, I really like the overall painterly look of this.  The bg has just the right amount of blur.  Good focus on the head and eye. The wing position is interesting - especially that the wing tip of the gulls very long wings is tucked behind the bill.  I'd like to know what the sunlight conditions were like when you shot this.  There is a quality of softer contrast that I like very much but don't tend to associate with full sun.  And the bluish tints to some of the feathers make me wonder if the shadows were brought up quite a bit.  This is not a nit.  I like the result very much.  I'm just trying to figure out how you got there.

Julie

Julia, thanks for your kind comments. This image was taken late in the day on the shores of a small lake close to my house. The sun was pretty low and there were no clouds. I actually performed very few adjustments on this image. It was slightly underexposed, so I brought the exposure up and did the usual noise reduction and sharpening. I also did a slight curves adjustment to give it a little pop. Hopes this addresses your questions.

Nice detail, sharpness and dof. The background really makes the gull pop.

This is really different Jerry, I like it. The Gull looks like it had an itch and it's scratching it's nose in flight. There does seem to be some blue cast in the bent wing and tail feathers that I'm not sure why. Nice work! 

As you write: the bird's pose is one of the interesting parts of the images - looks different from the usual ! Well done, cheers, Hans

Nice shot, Jerry.
A different flying image, considering the wings position. I really liked this one.

Phenomenal image, Jerry! Actually one of my favourites of yours now :) . I like the unusual wing position, here. It kinda looks like he's pointing out directions for someone, haha.