Seagulls basking in the sun

Harpper · Sep 17, 2004

These birds were just asking to get their pictures taken while they were sun tanning.

I had to use ISO 400 because the lighting was getting low, so there may be some noticeable noise/grain. I also kind of screwed up the exposure a bit because I didn't have a reflector with me. Anyway, comments are appreciated.

LaFoto · Sep 18, 2004

Oh, that light! How beautiful is that golden sunlight!
Not too much noise to be seen on my monitor, mind you, and yes, although one would like to have the seagull more IN the light than IN FRONT OF the light (which is how it seems to be without that reflector of yours -at least you have one! I wouldn't even- ), the atmosphere is still very special. Very golden!

John E. · Sep 18, 2004

wonderfull lighting, good picture of such a despicable creature

mentos_007 · Sep 18, 2004

what a beautiful light! I love those shots! Great dof!

Harpper · Sep 18, 2004

Thanks for all your comments everyone. I appreciate them.

LaFoto said:
although one would like to have the seagull more IN the light than IN FRONT OF the light (which is how it seems to be without that reflector of yours -at least you have one! I wouldn't even- )

Yes, that was what I was talking about. I wasn't prepared for these shots because I only carried gear for landscape shots. These shots were just a random opportunity.

anua · Sep 18, 2004

cant see too much noise on my monitor either...really great light at both of them, but the second one wins for me because of the composition,and because of its mood...-

mentos_007 · Sep 18, 2004

actually I don't see any noise in here

and I still claim that those are awesome shots

Harpper · Sep 18, 2004

Thanks anua and thanks again mentos for the nice comments.

Lafoto, I forgot to mention that you don't have to buy a reflector...I didn't. You can make it out of anything that reflects light. A car door can work if you can position it right. It's hard to do with moving animals though, so a smaller and more mobile reflector would be better.

ferny · Sep 18, 2004

I can't add anything to the comment that have already been made. I'll just say that I really like them to.

You've just missed off the tail in the first one though, which is a shame. Is it a crop or resize?

Harpper · Sep 18, 2004

ferny said:
You've just missed off the tail in the first one though, which is a shame. Is it a crop or resize?

I didn't crop them. The birds like to walk and fly away a lot so when the first bird stood still I had to take the picture quickly. I only noticed the missing tail after the shot. Oh well. Anyway, thanks for the comment.