Seagullls in flight. Practice makes perfect.

[SCraig]

Really?
Looks like I over-did it when I was playing with it.
I offer you........better than your gull shot.
And thank you. I saved the best for last.
1/3 down, 2/3 up..........I hope you see this.

Much, much better! You recovered most of the detail in the highlight areas and the wings. Far better than the original in my opinion. There is still a small area of blocked shadows on the very tip of the left wing of the bird to to rear but I don't really think it's a problem since there is probably not a lot of detail to be seen there anyway. You might play with your curves a little bit and see what happens in that area though.

One word of advice, if you don't mind: If you have enough on each side try landscape orientation. There's a lot of open water above and below the birds that adds nothing to the composition. The birds look "Crowded" to me, like they have nowhere to fly. If you have the room on each side of the original try a landscape crop leaving the birds just slightly to the left (not much, just slightly uncentered) so that they have some space to fly into.

We don't get a lot of gulls in Tennessee so I don't have much to offer as a comparison, but maybe something like this:



I think it looks better in landscape as compared to portrait although I did originally try it both ways.

Hope this helps. You caught a great shot though!

 

[KmH]

 

[LightSpeed]

Much, much better! You recovered most of the detail in the highlight areas and the wings. Far better than the original in my opinion. There is still a small area of blocked shadows on the very tip of the left wing of the bird to to rear but I don't really think it's a problem since there is probably not a lot of detail to be seen there anyway. You might play with your curves a little bit and see what happens in that area though.

One word of advice, if you don't mind: If you have enough on each side try landscape orientation. There's a lot of open water above and below the birds that adds nothing to the composition. The birds look "Crowded" to me, like they have nowhere to fly. If you have the room on each side of the original try a landscape crop leaving the birds just slightly to the left (not much, just slightly uncentered) so that they have some space to fly into.

We don't get a lot of gulls in Tennessee so I don't have much to offer as a comparison, but maybe something like this:



I think it looks better in landscape as compared to portrait although I did originally try it both ways.

Hope this helps. You caught a great shot though!

Thank you Mr. Craig.
I have to admit I went to your site. The Mallard shot and quite a few others were amazing.
I also read your story which I found inspirational. You know , about how you worked in the camera shop and the lessons you learned from your mentor, as well as other lessons, over the course of what appears to be a long time.

Much like you, I also ride. Have a 2008 special edition zx1400 Kaw. Bought it new, left over , in 2010.
Been down the Natchez trace many times and ride Mississippi, between Natchez and St. Francisville just about weekly.
Thanks for posting to my thread. I look forward to more from you, and glad I met you here.

I'll be posting one up later today that I'll probably get tore up , on.
The weather is horrible here in Louisiana.........I wanted to catch that horrible weather. So I went after it all day yesterday.
Came up with a capture, but not sure how well it will go over.

 

[LightSpeed]

I think it's safe to say that you're better at this than me. That only improved the image.
It looks really good.

Thank you for this KMH.

 

[SCraig]

Thank you Mr. Craig.
I have to admit I went to your site. The Mallard shot and quite a few others were amazing.
I also read your story which I found inspirational. You know , about how you worked in the camera shop and the lessons you learned from your mentor, as well as other lessons, over the course of what appears to be a long time.

Much like you, I also ride. Have a 2008 special edition zx1400 Kaw. Bought it new, left over , in 2010.
Been down the Natchez trace many times and ride Mississippi, between Natchez and St. Francisville just about weekly.
Thanks for posting to my thread. I look forward to more from you, and glad I met you here.

I'll be posting one up later today that I'll probably get tore up , on.
The weather is horrible here in Louisiana.........I wanted to catch that horrible weather. So I went after it all day yesterday.
Came up with a capture, but not sure how well it will go over.

Thank you, I appreciate the comments and I'm always glad to meet another rider. I've only been as far south on the Natchez Trace Parkway as Tupelo, MS but it's a great place to ride. Like you I'm normally on the north end every week or two when the weather is decent. The big Ninjas are great bikes but be careful with it, they can be handful if you aren't careful.

I've never had any luck capturing a rainy day on film that worked for me. I take them, the idea looks good in my head, but when I look at the final image (be it film or digital has never seemed to matter) it just looks like a boring, rainy day without anything to make it pop. I hope yours does better. And never worry about getting torn up. If you are trying to impress others that's how you learn. If you are trying to impress yourself you've already done that since you wouldn't post it if you didn't like it. Just keep in mind that when people comment on your photos they truly are trying to help.

Oh, and drop the Mr. Craig. I get enough of that at work