Seagulls Take 2

RobNZ · Jun 23, 2010

After confirming yesterday that catching birds in flight is quite difficult I thought I may as well go practice and work on my technique.

The more I practice, the more keepers I find I am getting....who knew!!! I am pretty fussy as to what I keep these days, but the ratio is increasing and so is the post workload.

1. I noticed most of the bigger gulls (molly hawks) fly with an eye mostly on the ground/water looking out for the next meal, makes sense, something I had never noticed before.

2. Quite possibly the same bird from above, shot about 15 minutes earlier on his roost.

3. I shot this bird 10-15 times from different angles to try and get the right light and background composition, this is an old pile right next to a busy wharf with lots of charter signage, I managed to get rid of a fairly busy background with only small compostional changes.

4. Wont bore you all with the many "in flight" shots I did get, but I do quite like this one, almost angelic I thought.

5. Kingfisher: The following shot took some work, these birds are small and nervous and I had a hell of time trying to get close enough to get a decent shot, not a 100% happy with it, but it is the best I got of this species today. A bit of CA that I could only reduce post, extremely bright conditions at the time. Posting this one more for my future reference.

All shot with Canon 500D, kenko 1.4 teleconverter and Canon 300 f4L USM. No filters.

Thanks for looking.
C&C welcomed.

pmsnel · Jun 23, 2010

WOW! O.O
Great pictures!! I prefer 2 over 3 though. #4 love the bokeh and the light trough the wings! Gulls are a pest where I live, but your pictures show they also got beauty in them!

cutestguy · Jun 23, 2010

Superb shots

1, 4 and 5 are my favs..

RobNZ · Jun 28, 2010

I got some more bird shots today. Typically the light wasnt playing ball again nor were my subjects.

1. Kingfisher Take 2, still not happy so I will have to try harder, such "flighty" little things.

2. Kingfisher take 3, grrrrrrr, fustrating not being able to get the shot I have in mind, nothing worthwhile is ever easy they say.

3. Anyone up for another shag?

Thanks for looking, C&C welcomed.

RobNZ · Jun 28, 2010

So 2 comments for the entire thread, c'mon people you must be able to find something wrong somewhere surely, C&C helps, it really does, positive, negative, or just pick one and tell me what you think.

I already know what I think, its your opinions I am after.

Go hard!!!!!

I tweaked this with new found knowledge and by knowledge I mean I actually understand how and why. The before (left) now looks washed out.

Chris Orwig explains levels and shows you how to use them in this video on youtube. Best 6 minutes I ever invested, along with the countless hours I have put in so far doing the full course.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV1jXDtONzM[/ame]