Gulls on the Beach

Nice composition, but the top three birds could have been left complete to draw the eyes to the S shape. Nice composition, love the light area on the left.

I agree with previous post. Crop the shot from the top to take out the top 3 birds (or partial birds) and also crop a bit from the right and you've got a winner of a shot. It's interesting that you say you're not sure if the flash went off or not. From looking at the photo, my guess is that it did not. I like the "natural" light in this photo though. Not sure the flash would have helped.

thoughts?

Great strmy atmosphere.Love all those gulls and the dynamism they give

Very dramatic indeed, Steve. The comments above would definitely help.

thanks for the comments!

regarding the crop: I agree, will try it and repost

regarding the flash: I was shooting with a strobe trying to fill in a little bit on the birds in the foreground. Shot many frames and it popped on some, not on others.... dont' recall which is which. To me it looks as if it *didn't* fire on this frame. My goal with the flash was to help freeze the birds in the foreground and also give some fill-- the background birds were getting more natural light

thanks again! cropped version coming soon