Why this was chosen as Photograph of the Week
We believe there is no need
for words to describe this
song and dance. So we'd rather
invite you to look at the
photographer's critique
request. To clone or not to
clone, that is the question.
Is there any need to *improve*
on a natural scene like this
one by touching up little
things here and there? (Read Discussion)
Photographer's Request for Critique
--John Frederick White
Should I clone out the seagull?
Wondering if I should clone out the seagull over the front pelicans
foot? Or is that cheating?
Critiques
Robert Ottohall , June 08, 2003; 04:30 P.M.
Mark Plonsky 
, June 08, 2003; 05:21 P.M.
Matthew Manweiler , June 08, 2003; 06:46 P.M.
what were you slipping in thier food? very very nice!
Carla Johnson , June 08, 2003; 09:48 P.M.
Igor Laptev 
, June 08, 2003; 10:41 P.M.
WOW! What a capture. Great shot!
Gaetan Chevalier , June 08, 2003; 11:34 P.M.
Very original. Superb composition.
Terry McCully , June 09, 2003; 12:45 A.M.
7/7
Chiranjeeb Buragohain 
, June 09, 2003; 02:09 A.M.
There was a recent thread in the nature forum asking if wildlife photography is boring to the viewer. This picture is the best response to that thread. Great capture!
Jenifer Selwa - West Michigan , June 09, 2003; 02:14 A.M.
Nice shot, perfect composure!
Daniel Goh , June 09, 2003; 02:53 A.M.
Splendid capture! Love how the smaller birds encircle the 3 bigger ones and look up at the same time.
Neil Lupin , June 09, 2003; 04:02 A.M.
see what it looks like, might work! Reminds me of a shot I took of pelicans drinking from a water sprinkler in 2001 in Monkey Mia - is that where this is shot!? Its a great image - I'd enter it to magazine competitions.
Marco Chiapponi , June 09, 2003; 04:54 A.M.
Bob Hixon , June 09, 2003; 07:52 A.M.
John, this is a riot! What an amazing arrangement of characters! The first thought I had was that this looks like a scene from a Disney movie. It looks as if you sat down with all of these birds and said, "Ok, here's what I want you to do...."
What a hoot!
Saikat Pathak , June 09, 2003; 07:59 A.M.
Monika Brand , June 09, 2003; 09:02 A.M.
Do you hear me laughing???This is unbelievable.What a great shot!!!!!!
Steve Vaughn , June 09, 2003; 02:11 P.M.
Great shot! I would leave it just as it is. As someone else mentioned, I would enter it into some competitions.
Kunihiko Kario , June 10, 2003; 12:06 A.M.
Lasse Pettersson , June 11, 2003; 03:24 A.M.
Kezia S , June 12, 2003; 03:00 A.M.
So glad I found this - a wonderful laugh to start the day with. I think the front seagull is important because he is one of a group of seagulls who seem to be forming an admiring audience. If you follow the line of gawping seagulls you will see that they form a curve that encircles the pelicans. You could clone out the fourth pelican and the bored unmusical seagull at bottom far left and performer/audience effect would be enhanced.
Lou Waters , June 12, 2003; 10:22 P.M.
Arnab Pratim Das , June 13, 2003; 08:31 A.M.
Benny Brand , June 13, 2003; 02:44 P.M.
Marcelo Soria-Rodriguez , June 14, 2003; 06:46 A.M.
Absolutely great!! It's so funny to see all the sea gulls looking at the performance...
About cloning: I would choose not to clone out anything, but if you feel the urge to do so, I agree with Doug Burgess about the fourth pelican on the back. Cheating? Not necessarily, it depends on how you want to show this image... The presence of that pelican there is a matter of luck, and perhaps the recital would be over by the time that other pelican was gone...
kind regards,
Regina Chayer , June 14, 2003; 01:19 P.M.
I can't add much except to say this is one in a million and worth probably about that much!
Great shot. Thanks for allowing us all to enjoy.
Tomm Hansen , June 18, 2003; 05:16 P.M.
Great shot
Leave it as it is. Attention is drawn to the singers no matter how many of those seagulls you clone away.
Marc G. , June 19, 2003; 01:50 A.M.
Super-original to me. Opera tenors ! :-))
Michael Renoir , June 20, 2003; 05:52 A.M.
Stik Kim , June 20, 2003; 05:20 P.M.
This photo just made me laugh out loud! Fantastic timing.
David Vatovec , June 29, 2003; 09:15 A.M.
Sometimes reality has more imagination than anyone - perfect!
Richard Bachman , June 30, 2003; 07:45 A.M.
Alternative title ...
... would be "The Pelican Briefing", as they seem very eager (and able) to shout out some very necessary information. (hope you can endure my rather dry sense of humor)
A great picture in any case !!!
Regards,
RB
Kara Jansen , July 02, 2003; 10:21 A.M.
Very good capture! The seagull belongs to the audience and i.m.o. it benefits the picture .
Baldur Birgis , July 08, 2003; 05:01 P.M.
Very good shot. I hope there will be another concert!
R Jackson , July 13, 2003; 10:23 A.M.
Superb shot! I wouldn't clone anything. The gull in the front is an integral part of the "audience". Great composition.
Aaron Litvinoff , July 25, 2003; 07:28 P.M.
amazing picture. truly great - the stupid elves of photo.net should take note.
Anna Dulfan , October 27, 2003; 03:18 P.M.
Clearness
How do you get this sharpness and clearness of the colour?? Did you use tripod? What was the ISO on the camera? I am trying to figure out how to make sharp images with digital camera? Thank you AD
Oriolus Oriolus , October 28, 2003; 03:50 P.M.
Richard Lord , November 03, 2003; 08:45 A.M.
I have one question for you...Why would you want to clone out the gull? It doesn't detract from an excellent image. This is fantastic! Well done! You should enter it into the Aga Wildlife of Year competition.
Krzysztof Ciborowski , December 01, 2003; 10:21 P.M.
woow this is amazing !!!!
Joseph Bankowski , December 03, 2003; 01:14 A.M.
John Bourgon , December 16, 2003; 10:14 P.M.
This is fantastic! You have caught a moment in time. Thanks for sharing it! Don't change it.
Denny Page , January 05, 2004; 06:27 P.M.
Great frame
You could take out the 4th pelican, but don't take out the seagull.
I also wouldn't take out the seagull that is not facing the pelicans. This adds a bit of realism to the shot. Besides, it kinda feels like he is staring at the camera... :-)
Paul Mason , March 02, 2004; 09:26 P.M.
Unbelievable
Who cares about the 4th pelican? I had to search the shot just to find it. How in the world did you ever get the smaller birds to form a circle like that ????? This photo doesn't just deserve high marks for the usual gradings, but also for choreography - incredible. In the thumbnail view, it could pass as an advert for Finding Nemo !!
Bob Greaves , March 07, 2004; 04:57 P.M.
Simply perfect...well done!
Mari Mar , March 23, 2004; 09:14 P.M.
Wonderful, congratulations!!
Charles Glatzer , April 11, 2004; 11:37 A.M.
Jihn, this is extremely well done, as presented. Leave the gull, removing too much I believe will take the nature out of Nature.
Best, Chas www.shootthelight.com
Dean Nixon , April 30, 2004; 12:13 P.M.
Almost too good to be true. Total stunner anyway :-)
slipchuck slip , May 04, 2004; 06:46 P.M.
HI
I think keeping the seagull in front will take some of the "effectiveness" of the photo as the circle the seagulls will be somewhat broken.
maybe using photoshop to slightly darken the seagulls to make the "big boy" stand out a bit more might help
hope this helps
slipchuck
www.csolve.net/~randyroi save a child from cancer!
Windle Lands , May 15, 2004; 02:14 A.M.
Perfect timing. Great shot.
7/7
Toni Mikael , May 25, 2004; 04:36 A.M.
Oh my
Looks like you have positioned the birds really carefully, amazing. Truly amazing...
Clever Huang , June 09, 2004; 06:00 P.M.
choi chulan , June 17, 2004; 01:02 A.M.
w@@w
Vicki Passmore 
, June 21, 2004; 10:17 A.M.
This is just such a cool shot. So funny. Great job.
Risto J Savolainen 
, April 10, 2009; 04:53 A.M.
Great capture! Just the right moment. I can hear them sing, BR, Sakke
Send a free photo eCard
Photo eCards from photo.net are a way to email someone a photo.net Gallery photo
with your personal greeting or message. Send an eCard to your contacts to announce
your portfolio on photo.net. Send one of your own photos as an eCard to ask
another photo.net member to write a critique of it. Share photos
and portfolios that you have discovered on photo.net with your friends. Or
just send someone a greeting or message for
a birthday, holiday, or other occasion or observance.
The recipients will receive an email from
photo.net announcing that they have received the eCard, with a link back to
photo.net. When the recipients follow the link, the photo and your message will
be presented to them in a special eCard format.
The easiest way to see how eCards work and what they look like
is just to send yourself one!
photo.net eCards are free: by sending one, you are letting others know
about photo.net and the exceptional photographers on the site! We won't charge you
for that. The email addresses you enter into this form will be kept private. Send as many
eCards as you like, but please don't turn this feature into a spam-a-thon.
