I NEVER EVER, for one second believed that I would ever sell an image of a Ring-billed Gull…Let alone an immature bird! Most folks in Duluth refer to them as “flying rats.” They are ubiquitous in Canal Park by the Aerial Lift Bridge, living on popcorn handouts from tourists, garbage and god-knows what else. But that is where the miracle mix of keywording and Google search make their magic. Evidently, a creative director in England did a search for something about “flash” or “gel” and wildlife photography, and this image popped up. (See the original blog “Gulls in my Face: How to Make Gulls look Sexy” post Here)
This was just a great reminder that we should always keyword the images we put online (if you have any interest in making photo sales). And not just our favorite images…even ones of immature “flying rats!” Also remember that if we update our websites/blogs frequently, our images will also pop up higher in all search engines.
Here are the keywords I tagged this image with before I posted it in a blog post: “aerial lift bridge, bird, Duluth, flash, flying rats, gel, gel-covered flash, gull, Ring-billed Gull, tungsten”
Now that I see the actual keywords, I think I’d add the following: “creative, wildlife photography, bird photography, orange gel, CTO, sky rat, flying, flight”
My photo/article appeared last month in Digital Camera, a slick British magazine (also sold at Barnes & Noble).
Here is the text I submitted:
“I love a couple of things that most people dislike…gulls (no such thing as a “seagull”) and dark overcast skies for photography. To combine these two to create an artistic, out-of-the ordinary image, I decided to create a “cold-warm” look by setting my camera’s white balance to “tungsten,” (which makes the dark gray sky a pleasing blue) and using two 1/2 CTO (orange) gels on my flash to cast a warm light on the nearby gulls (if you just used straight-up flash, the gulls would also look bluish). I used auto TTL flash but adjusted the power up with the flash exposure compensation dial. Also make sure you underexpose the scene to add drama to the clouds.
One challenge is finding wildlife subjects that allow close approach. You need to get close so the flash can illuminate your subject. Gulls are human groupies and any old chunk of stale bread will bring them in and make them your friend forever. Gray sky days are also required, but these never seem to be in short supply!”
3 responses to ““You sold a photo of an immature Ring-billed Gull?!””
Mike Powell
December 3rd, 2013 at 04:14
Congratulations. I remember the shot when your first posted it.
falconjenn
December 4th, 2013 at 06:17
Congrats. 🙂 I think all wildife even urbanized is worth depicting. I’m curious about the “tungsten” in the “white balance” . I have to admit, when I take a digital photo, (and sometimes even film!), I usually just fix the color in photoshop or iphoto later. You said the sky was really gray? Do you have a comparison picture? (Just wondering.)
Sparky Stensaas
December 21st, 2013 at 06:39
Hi Jenn,
I usually change/fix white balance in Aperture on my computer too…But in this case, that would not have worked since I wanted the gull a warm tone and the sky a blue cast. If I did it at home on the computer it would have been a global change and the bird would go blue too. I’m sure there is a way to select an area (the sky) and change white balance to a cooler temp., then select the bird and change to warmer white balance, but it sounds like a lot of work…and I don’t know how to do that. I’ll look for a comparison picture. Thanks for your question!