How to Take a Beautiful Photo of A Sea Gull

Most people think a seagull is just a nuisance bird but I find them to be gorgeous in their own right. They do tend to be loud and can wail and hawk to announce their arrival or defend their territory but, regardless, I find them to be beautiful birds. Follow the steps in this eHow to take some beautiful photos of these interesting birds.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Camera or smart phone
• Some sort of food source - bread works well

1. 
    
   Sea gulls are fascinating birds

   A seagull, while not quite as noble as an eagle, can make a quite interesting study for a day at the beach. There are many types of gulls ranging from 15" for the smallest birds up to a whopping 30" for the largest. Most large gulls take up to 4 years to mature; smaller gulls take around 2. And, the larger gulls, such as the Herring Gull can live up to 49 years! That in itself makes them interesting birds! Seagulls are also highly intelligent with complex language being exchanged among a flock and a very well defined hierarchy. Some species have actually learned to drop shellfish on hard objects to get at the underlying food.

2. 
    

   Of course, most seagulls are located in shoreline habitats but you can also set up a chair in the middle of a parking lot here in Boyds, Maryland and still get some great photos. Being quite defensive about territory, you will easily detect the hierarchy within the seagull flock if you simple sit and watch for a while. Once you figure out which bird is in charge, that's most likely who you'll get the first photos of.

3. 
    

   Make sure there's no one in the area who objects to you feeding the birds - if at the beach, a deserted stretch is your best bet. Also, you can certainly take photos of sea gulls on a bright day, but I've had the best luck when their gray, white and black plumage is framed against a cloudy gray sky.

4. 
    

   Throw out a few pieces of bread in close proximity to you. You'll immediately start quite a stir within the sea gull crowd. Start snapping photos as they swoop to eat the bread. Don't bother focusing on any certain bird at the moment. Just shoot pictures. Chances are great that you'll end up with at least one photo that you can crop to get a good picture.

5. 
    
   A sea gull going after a piece of food in my hand

   Now that you have their attention, throw some bread in the air, high and directly in front of you. Snap pictures as the gulls swoop in to get the bread. Sea gulls in flight are just gorgeous birds! If you're brave enough, take a piece of bread and hold it between your fingers (making it a fairly large piece will decrease your chances of being nipped). Hold it out and wait for a brave gull to do a fly by and grab it - this move means that you have to practice some bravery too. After a few fly bys, hold your camera in the other hand and snap a photo as a bird grabs for the bread. You'll end up with breathtaking close up photos like that at the left.

Tips & Warnings

• If you choose to hold the bread in your fingers, be prepared to be nipped. I've never had a hard bite but you probably will feel beak!
• Wash your hands after any contact with seagulls. I keep a mall bottle of antibacterial solution in my purse for a quick wash up.

Resources

• How to take the best photo of your dog

[leaper]

on 2/23/2009 This is great!

[Vanillatte]

on 2/20/2009 I love sea gulls! Great detail in your article on how to photograph them! 5*