This looks inter..............

[Ollokot]

This looks interesting..............



Aaaahhh.................Thats better

[MiniChris]

Looks like a cross between a seagull and a pigeon. Weird bird, for sure.

[JohnC]

Much better Pat. I wonder why they call it a black-headed gull when it's got a brown head ..

[Ollokot]

Yes Chris the Gull does appear to have a beak akin to a pigeons.
It is a wonder John why the gull is called black headed when the colour is in fact brown,it sports the brown head from march to august and for the winter months it's head is white with a dark patch at the rear of the eye.
Best Wishes, Pat

[paulwilbur]

Hi Pat;

Try this...

the first picture to me is the most dynamic - but the bird is really facing the wrong way (we are looking with the critter)

Flip the birdie around so the it's looking to the left, and now we are as we say, looking AT the bird and not with the bird

works for me... looking at the subject is more exciting than looking with them. Kinda get the idea... this is not taught to often, I a principal from old school Renaissance paintings.


paul

[Ollokot]

Hi Paul,
Thank you for your comments,I tried what you suggested and in the process had a thought.....do people who are right handed or left handed,or should I say right eyed or left eyed,unconsciously, after looking at the focal point of an image turn their gaze to the right or left depending on whether they are right or left handed.
Best Wishes,Pat.

[Seriche]

Hi Paul,
Thank you for your comments,I tried what you suggested and in the process had a thought.....do people who are right handed or left handed,or should I say right eyed or left eyed,unconsciously, after looking at the focal point of an image turn their gaze to the right or left depending on whether they are right or left handed.
Best Wishes,Pat.

That's a very handsome gull you've caught there. They're harder to ID in winter plumage, but are one of my favourite sea birds.

Your question is fascinating and I hope someone here can answer it. I've heard (unconfirmed) that right-handed artists paint their subjects looking to the left, and vice versa. As there are more right-handed artists around, I'm wondering if we've just got used to seeing portraits oriented that way and look at animal subjects in the same way?

I'm very new to photography so I wonder if the same applies to photographers and their human or animal portraits. If that were true, would that mean that a psychological rather than a mechanical reason was at play?

I'm not quite sure why we feel as if we're looking at the subject when it's facing left, but found Paul's observation intriguing.

Seri

[Geoff F]

Do people who are right handed or left handed,or should I say right eyed or left eyed,unconsciously, after looking at the focal point of an image turn their gaze to the right or left depending on whether they are right or left handed.

There is probably something in this. I certainly find the version where the bird is looking right far easier to concentrate upon.