DSLR Photography Forum

Captured with my 55-200 lens at full zoom, at Phillip Island. I was pleasantly surprised that I could track these gulls and get some good shots in. All 3 were from a burst I took as the bird flew overhead. I'm still undecided which one my favourite is - either 2 or 3.

Nicely done ST! My favourite is No 2.

I agree - #2 is the most interesting pose (and sharpest focus).

Here's his wingtip back...

I love to take pictures of seagulls... yours are great! I like #2, it looks beautiful with the tip of his wing back

Thanks for the comments and thanks for giving my gull his wingtip back! Looks great!

Very nice; I like seagulls. Pigeons are another matter...

I like the better sharpness and unusual pose of the second photo. It seems to better capture the curiosity of the gull, which is how I see them. The elegance of the glide in #3 shows the bird as an effortless aviator, but lacks some of the life.

While I realize that this isn't the critique forum...

(don't seagulls eat toads?)

... I would go the opposite way and clip the birds' other wings. (As Garfield said, if the rope's around my neck, I might as well jump off the horse.) Let's face it, the bright wing-tips are distracting. If you crop to remove them, and place the sky in a pleasing arrangement in the rest of the frame, the images change from being documentary into a study of line and form. I know a lot of people like elements touching two edges of the frame a lot less than I do, but the simple composition gives it tremendous power.

(And you can pretend you were out shooting with your 600mm lens that day.)

Wow, nice ones. I can't wait the day, when I get my Ixus 30 sold. I'm looking forward using a 10x > zoom camera like Olympus C-765 or 770.

Cool cool.. thanks for the comments everyone!