Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

[catkins]

A ray of sunshine this morning in the midst of dull weather meant a quick photo opportunity with the local seagulls. And the main result is that I've decided I need three hands (two for photography and one for bread throwing), and I need higher end Oly with more than three focus points - so if I can't get a cheap E-30 then it'll just have to be the rumoured E-5 of course!
Still there were a few shots that I was pleased - most are taken using an ISO 800 setting for speed as light was dappled by trees, so noise is an issue in some, and the contrast of light and shade was frustrating at times. All are taken using an E-520 and the Oly 70-300mm lens - as said previously, when the light is good what a lovely lens it is.

1/. I love the wing shape but focus is out


2/. Pleased with this one - the tern almost hovered as it waited for me to throw some food up!


3/. It gets a bit easier when the gulls stop flying!


4/. I guess I could say that they were nicely terned out! (but are they terns?)


5/. Splashdown - love the bubbles


6/. At last, one with the sun full on


7/. Duck fight - action shot


8/. Coming in to land - lots wrong with this in some ways but I really like it!


9/. Oops Landing - you can almost see the look of indignation on the other gull!


So all in all, a few examples of how a multi focus point camera might have just got that extra little bit of focus, but still pleased with the results. But a lot of shots taken to try to get the inflight shots and my panning reactions need to improve too.
Oh well, there's an excuse to get out and practise some more.

Chris

[Kiwi Paul]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Great stuff Chris, capturing birds in flight etc is no easy task and you have done well.

Paul

[theMusicMan]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Hi Chris - nice set here. I'd say they were juvenile Black Headed Gulls.

[MartinF]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

All the gulls are adult black-headed gulls in winter plumage, except picture 6, which is a first-winter black-headed. Great pictures - I've been trying some similar ones recently, just for practice and it's not as easy as it looks.

[PeterBirder]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Hi Chris

Great shots

Yes they are Black headed Gulls, the Terns are all sensibly in Africa at this time of year enjoying the sunshine. The gulls loose most of their black ( actually chocolate brown ) head colour in the winter.

Regards

[DavidJ1609]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Great shots, I like 4,5,8 and 9.

I've never realy sought birds as a subject, I guess because when I have tried I realise how difficult it is! I would need to raid a taxidermists shop and pose them .

DavidJ.

[crimbo]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

excellent stuff... Olympus does wildlife

[Batman]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Hi Chris,

Very good Gull shots, taken with the same camera/lens combo that I have used until recently and much better that I have usually achieved. I haven't really used my E-30 much for flying birds yet but do hope that it will make it a bit easier. Must get out and try.

A good set of shots. I like them all and like you, I also like No8.

[PeterBirder]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Mention of Terns makes me think of Spring when they will return and bring some better weather. They are fantastic characters, look out for them this year.
Here are a couple of shots from last spring. The first is courtship, a male offering a fish to a female ( she doesn't look too interested st this stage ) and the second an adult feeding one of the chicks. They were taken on one of the " Tern rafts " that we have at Abberton resevoir for them to nest on. We had a record year last year with around 100 chicks fledged and ringed.





Regards

[gno]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Nice shots Chris,

I would have been very happy to have taken any of them.
The first which you mention is slightly out of focus can be easily corrected using Photoshop.

Regards

Gavin

[catkins]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Thanks for all the positive comments - I almost feel that I should thank the 'Black headed Gulls' (thanks for the info) as they tried to make life as easy as possible for me. They are obviously used to being fed and so were relatively and in some cases remarkably relaxed by me being quite close to them.

But observation of their flight patterns was handy too, and it became fairly obvious that they tended to fly in a clockwise circle in to where they were being fed - hence most of the shots show them landing or flying right to left! (spot the exception to the rule)
Unfortunately this flight pattern was less ideal with the sunlight, so trying to stand in the right spot to capture the sun on the gulls as they came towards me was part of the fun of the capture.
Shade cast by trees and the need to limit the focus to only one of the three focus points also added to the entertainment.
But the E-520 would not really be thought of as an ideal camera for action type shots - the need for a high ISO, limited focus points, etc. all compromise it to a degree, but I hope the message from these photos will be - plan, observe and experiment!

Chris

[tlove]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Some lovely images there Chris - I rather like gulls, they're quite photogenic (and a challenge to photograph at times). You've done very well - and I don't know why, but sometimes - when it comes to gulls at any rate - a more unusual viewpoint (either by photographing or subsequent cropping of the image) works very well indeed, as you've demonstrated here.

Well done


Gavin - I don't want to hijack this thread (perhaps you could put something in the Software forum?), but given your comment below I'd be very interested to know (find out more like ) how you'd rescue that image in Photoshop. I've often taken photos like that and have discarded them as unusable.

Nice shots Chris,

I would have been very happy to have taken any of them.
The first which you mention is slightly out of focus can be easily corrected using Photoshop.

Regards

Gavin

Cheers

Thea

[catkins]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

Well done

Thank you

Gavin - I don't want to hijack this thread (perhaps you could put something in the Software forum?), but given your comment below I'd be very interested to know (find out more like ) how you'd rescue that image in Photoshop. I've often taken photos like that and have discarded them as unusable.

Just to add in here - there's a bit more RAW editing sharpening to this first image but no use of layers or other software, so there is potential perhaps - feel free to use the image as an example and either repaste here or in a new thread.

The other pointer to Thea is . . . even a bad image may have other uses (letterhead logo if reduced in size, card background if soft focus/desaturated, etc.), so try to balance some of the pros and cons before deleting. I have a father who would delete everything that is not perfect, and true it does keep the computer space clear, but I enjoy the creativity of the image so tend to find other uses! I will try to find an image that I have actually dared to delete from the gull photoshoot (i.e. it was badly out of focus or of little use within the overall sequence of images) and see if I can reuse it and then post it back to this thread if any good!

Chris

[catkins]

Re: Terns gulls or seabirds? (multiple images)

The other pointer to Thea is . . . even a bad image may have other uses (letterhead logo if reduced in size, card background if soft focus/desaturated, etc.), so try to balance some of the pros and cons before deleting. I have a father who would delete everything that is not perfect, and true it does keep the computer space clear, but I enjoy the creativity of the image so tend to find other uses! I will try to find an image that I have actually dared to delete from the gull photoshoot (i.e. it was badly out of focus or of little use within the overall sequence of images) and see if I can reuse it and then post it back to this thread if any good!
Chris

Decided to eat my words plus the humble pie and re-delete all the images that I decided weren't worth saving - the blurred shots that I played with were still better cleared out and if I wanted an alternative use for the image a good starting image made the process a lot easier. So maybe my father's right to delete the worst images! (Only trouble is is that he will also delete good images too just to save space on the shelf!)
So instead of spending a lovely day on the computer I've spent a lovely day taking more gull photos!

Chris