Birdtography

On a recent birdtography adventure, I came across a flock of ring-billed gulls flying over the icy waters of the Ohio River. Gulls are a great bird to practice bird-in-flight (BIF) photography as they soar low over the water looking for food.
With its predominantly white plumage contrasting against the deep, dark background of the image, the gull stood out strikingly. This stark difference inspired me to explore a black-and-white conversion, as it would enhance the drama and the difference between light and shadows.
As the gull was flying directly toward me, I faced a couple of challenges while capturing this image. First, with a bird approaches head-on, a faster shutter speed is necessary to freeze its motion. Additionally, I had to think about how to capture the bird’s eyes effectively. To address these issues, I increased my shutter speed and waited until the gull began to turn away from me, resulting in the shot I wanted.

See a high-res image on my Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/baw26/54320280782/in/dateposted-public/