Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Target Practice

I know what you're thinking, really I do. Here she goes again with more gull pictures......Please stop, if I have to comment on one more of her gull pictures I'm going to scream..... I can't say that I blame you but please hear me out. I was at the Target in Worcester this evening and the gulls were begging to have their pictures taken. I have a hard time saying no so get out of my car and toss out a couple pieces of bread just to make it even more pleasant for the birds.
I decided to use this opportunity to play with the ISO settings of my camera. Shutter speeds can have a dramatic impact on photos and it is something I am still not used to and figure gulls are an easy target to practice on as they are not afraid of people and are fairly large birds
I put it on the 3rd highest setting and start clicking away. In a period of 30 seconds I have taken over 50 photos!!!

So there you have my secret in some of the photos I have taken lately. If you want to get some cool pictures of birds in flight, than start playing with your shutter speeds. Find an area with a bunch of gulls and bring bread. With this knowledge, you too can inundate the blogasphere with countless pictures of gulls in various poses. Isn't the Internet wonderful!!!


Last but not least is this odd looking gull. Notice its pink beak and pale legs? Completely different from the gulls in the other pictures. I believe this is a Herring Gull in its second winter plumage. I am even using the proper vocabulary here. Surely you must be impressed, if even a little.......Somebody help me please. Send me some warblers, a Fox Sparrow or an Osprey for your sake as well as mine...

24 comments:

Kelly said...

...you crack me up, girl (living in the land-locked state of Ohio, I like seeing your gulls!).

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Wow Kim.... You are going to be a professional---or should I say, you ARE a professional now. Great photos...Love them all. That last gull is quite different, isn't he???

Hugs,
Betsy

Anonymous said...

Looks like you have a first winter Ring-billed Gull. Nice shootin'.

Amy said...

Aha, that's a great tip on practicing your photography! I've been practicing with my scope on slow-moving waterfowl. If I ever can get my digiscoping rig set up I will probably go crazy with duck photos. :o) Your flight photos are great!

Helen said...

Those are great shots. Helen

Unknown said...

Great shots, your practice is certainly paying off :-)

Jayne said...

LOLOL... You are such a hoot Kim! I think that's a great tip for learning to get good shots of birds in motion.

Tina said...

What a good idea on "who" to practice camera settings on..I'll have to do that..gulls are everywhere these days and are cooperative subjects, just like you said!

Shelley said...

Kallen - I'm never sick of your gulls! I love seeing all birds! And you did a great job w/ your shutter speeds!!

troutbirder said...

Relax ! Those of us landlocked landlubbers love your gulls. We NEVER see any here

troutbirder said...

Relax ! Those of us landlocked landlubbers love your gulls. We NEVER see any here

troutbirder said...

Relax ! Those of us landlocked landlubbers love your gulls. We NEVER see any here

Dawn Fine said...

Gulls are cool!
So keep shooting them..
Great job!

Ginnymo said...

Some people don't like Gulls but I think they are pretty birds. But I guess they do make a mess in parking lots. We have them hanging around the Walmart parking lot. I always wonder why they come so far inland. I always thought they were water birds. You got some great photos of them!!!

Samuel said...

Those are great photos!

Deborah Godin said...

Your humor is the wind beneath our wi... Oh never mind, that one doesn't really work does it. Love the gull shots, and gulls have so much personality, hard to resist.

Unknown said...

Very good post!!!
And I like the updates to your layout as well.

MaineBirder said...

Well done on the Gulls Kim! That's how I started with flight shots, card after card full of Gulls.

I echo Steve B. on the first winter Ring-billed Gull.

Chuck Dilmore said...

there are gull pictures...
and then there are YOUR gull pictures!
very nice with the lens!

keep shooting - and thank you for posting for our pleasure!

peace~
Chuck

ShySongbird said...

Great photos Kim and all photographic tips gratefully received!!

Rick (Ratty) said...

Hey, I love the gull pictures! For me, this is kind of exciting. I sometimes think people think I take too many pictures of geese, but I like them and they're easy. I just saw a gull today myself, and it's the first picture I ever got. It was high up in the air, but it's the only bird it could be. I've seen these birds in parking lots, but I've never had my camera along yet. I'm definitely going to try your shutter speed suggestion next time I see some gulls. Cool!

Coy Hill said...

The first gull shot is spectacular; sharp image, good lighting with excellent composition & pose.

What is common for one is uncommon for another. Where I live we only have gulls occasionally in the spring so I have yet to tire of gulls.

Leedra said...

Looks like a ring billed gull to me. Here is the link at cornell about the herring. I couldn't find any of the photos to match yours.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Herring_Gull.html

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Leedra said...

Well, the link didn't go very well. Google Herring and go to the cornell site. This is a great way to see any bird. I can't seem to move around well on the Cornell site, but do well with the google search then to Cornell.

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