This was shot at Pebble Beach on my last layover in San Francisco. Something about the lone bird on the crest of the rocks caught my attention.
I've begun experimenting a bit more witht he features of the D100 and I find more and more I prefer shooting in Aperature Priority to give better control of DOF. This was one of those shots. Of course the wide lens itself help that aspect but conrolling to f/11 was the key to maintain the DOF so that botht he bird and the foreground were in focus. I used a polarizer to enhance the sky color. In Photoshop, I did the normal adjustment in levels and USM and a tiny touch of color work with Miranda's DV action.
I like seagull shots, might be because I have so many of my own. Love the composition, the way it is looking out and acting as a sentry as you aptly titled the image. The only thing that bothers me is the horizontal banding running through sky, quite an unusual artefact, I'm assuming it wasn't intentional.
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