Gulls In Flight

SCraig · Jan 19, 2013

I hung around the lake this morning for a couple of hours just watching the gulls flying around. They are amazing birds, and can do amazing things in the air. I couldn't help but think of the book Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach while watching them because some really seemed enthralled with their ability to fly.

The can stick those big wings out and catch the air and glide for what seems like forever .....

They can tuck their wings in and come screaming through like a bullet ....

They can control their wings well enough to virtually hover over the water ....

And they are coordinated enough to skim along the surface of the water grabbing food from the surface.

Lot of fun to watch. I may do it again tomorrow

PixelRabbit · Jan 19, 2013

Great set! I agree, I could watch and shoot the gulls forever.
I wish the first two had a little more room in front of them to move into, 3 is great and 4, with the duck and splash of water... Yum!!

shefjr · Jan 19, 2013

Great captures Scott! Really crisp detail. My favorite is number 4.

MSnowy · Jan 19, 2013

Very nice. Like #1 the most

Ron Evers · Jan 19, 2013

Cannot pic a fav, they are all great shots with something special in each.

sm4him · Jan 19, 2013

Just outstanding, all of them. If I had to pick a favorite, maybe the last one. Or the third. Or...meh, I don't HAVE to pick just one!!

I am *definitely* gonna have to plan an extra day into my trip next time I come out that way so we can meet up and you can give me some pointers!

Mach0 · Jan 19, 2013

Beautiful. Was this with the sigma ?

SCraig · Jan 19, 2013

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the comments and I'm glad you like them.

PixelRabbit said:
Great set! I agree, I could watch and shoot the gulls forever.
I wish the first two had a little more room in front of them to move into, 3 is great and 4, with the duck and splash of water... Yum!!

They are all heavily cropped so there is plenty of room. The first I kind of like that way. The second is a bit cramped but I wanted the detail in his eye. I may take another look at them though

shefjr said:
Great captures Scott! Really crisp detail. My favorite is number 4.

MSnowy said:
Very nice. Like #1 the most

Ron Evers said:
Cannot pic a fav, they are all great shots with something special in each.

Thanks guys. Ron, the fact that they were all slightly different yet similar was the intent. They are unique birds and can do things in the air that I've not seen other birds do. Well, not combined in one bird

sm4him said:
Just outstanding, all of them. If I had to pick a favorite, maybe the last one. Or the third. Or...meh, I don't HAVE to pick just one!!

I am *definitely* gonna have to plan an extra day into my trip next time I come out that way so we can meet up and you can give me some pointers!

Any time. These were all shot at the lake in Shelby Park this morning. It's a relatively small lake to start with and long and narrow at that. Where I shoot from the lake is only about 60 yards wide. The parking lot adjoins the lake and I have been known to open the back of my XTerra and shoot out of the back when it's raining

The gulls are probably transients but there are always ducks and geese around there.

Mach0 said:
Beautiful. Was this with the sigma ?

Yes, they were all with the 150-500 Sigma. I had to check the EXIF though since I did shoot with my 70-300 for a while today. Someone parked next to me and threw a bunch of bread out and there were birds EVERYWHERE for a while, and they were too close for even 150mm

ceeboy14 · Jan 19, 2013

Lat one is a super capture...good eye detail as well as the overall grace of these birds.

BlackSheep · Jan 19, 2013

I loved Jonathon Livingston Seagull! Your photos do a very nice job of showing what Jonathon's flying practice would have looked like, for sure

SCraig · Jan 19, 2013

ceeboy14 said:
Lat one is a super capture...good eye detail as well as the overall grace of these birds.

Thanks, much appreciated.

I watched that bird do that and I'm still not how he did it. He swooped down to the surface and then kind of hover-walked along the surface skimming his bill in the water. You can see his left foot is up and dripping water because he was walking at the same time he was flying. Really interesting to watch.

SCraig · Jan 19, 2013

BlackSheep said:
I loved Jonathon Livingston Seagull! Your photos do a very nice job of showing what Jonathon's flying practice would have looked like, for sure

Thanks!

I haven't read JLS in decades but I think we still have it on one of the bookcases. My wife used to be a huge Richard Bach fan and at one time we had all his books. I may have to hunt it up after watching them today, it's a pretty quick read.