location 6 - Seagull Landing


How I took this shot

This shot was taken from a hide at Meon Shore nature reserve. I noticed that the post usually had a seagull on it. The seagull would fly away and then return minutes later. I set up my tripod, adjusted the settings to get a proper exposure of the post and put it to manual focus and focussed it on the post because the camera is not going to move, so it won't need to be changed. I tightened up the tripod so that it would be very stable. Rather than looking through the viewfinder which would have caused a delay in taking the shot, instead I put the camera into continuous shot mode and then watched the post. As the bird came into land I kept the shutter button down so that I took a lot of frames. I did this three times. I got just as close to the landings with each iteration, but I chose this shot out of all of them because the other shots did not have such interestingly shaped wings.

Assessment of the image

The water makes a good background because of its subtle colours. The shape of the bird is striking with its jagged wings, beak and tailfeathers, they contrast well with the soft lines of the water.

There is a lot of movement in this photograph. The waer is moving, catching the sunlight, the bird is obviously in flight, his feet have not yet touched the post, infact the only thing that is stationary is the post which sits at an angle in the centre of the frame. I also feel that even the post adds to the movement as there is a line from the tip of the bird's wind down along the post to the water which draws the viewer's eye.

Light and shadow plays a part in this photograph, particularly in relation to the post. If the post had been evenly lit it would blend into the background, but with one side being in dark shadow and the top of it white with the sunlight hitting it, the post is in sharp focus. The light also highlights the rugged texture of the face of the post, which contrasts with all the smooth textures in the image, the water and the smooth plumage of the bird.