or “How to win a second place with a not-too-interesting subject matter”. It’s my season of luck. After winning a first place last week at the Palo Alto Camera Club, I just won a second place in the Nature category. The image was titled: “Western Gull Taking Off (Larus Occidentalis)”. I insist on the title because it was part of the reason this image got the attention of the judge. In the nature category, the photograph needs to respect some criteria which different judges give more or less weight.
Let’s step back and give some background to that “not-too-interesting” subject matter. It was taken while on a photo trip with my friend Terry Cluley from Toronto, who was on a business trip in the area. We spend a long day cruising around the Monterey Bay area, from Point Lobos to Carmel and Santa Cruz. We stopped by a little beach just South of Santa Cruz called the Seacliff State Beach. When you get there, you’ll be wondering what is that ghost-ship laying at the end of the pier. Well, those are the remains of the USS Paolo Alto, one of the 3 cement ships built during the WWI.
USS Palo Alto
Here is an aerial view from the pier and the ship as seen on Google Map.
There were lots of birds on that boat and pier. Mostly Seagulls and Pigeons. It was getting late in the afternoon, and the light was low. I was playing with getting closeup views of the Seagulls on the ramp of the pier. Here are some plain, regular shots
I also caught that one, the one that got the second place:
Nikon D50 • Nikkor 80-200 • 80 mm • 1/3200s • f/9.0 • (ev -1.33)
3.31.2007 5:55PM
So, here are the characteristics that made this a winning image:
- all parts of the creature are sharp (see close-up details below). This is due to the combination of shutter speed (1/3200s and aperture set to f/9.0)
- the image represents a story: it illustrates the position before taking off
- the title provides the precise name of the species: Western Gull (I used Wikipedia to identify it)
- the title includes the scientific name (an optional requirement)
- the lighting and the exposure reveal details in the white feathers (not easy since they create a high contrast with the rest of the animal)
- the “hand of man” is not present beyond the representation of the natural habitat (the hand rail)
- the composition and choice of background provides a non-distracting contrast, bringing the attention of the viewer to the main subject
- the color range of the background is in the same color palette than the animal main features (legs, beck, eye…)
Conclusion: it is possible to get some interesting shots out of a common subject matter. It all depends on how one looks at it!