Soaring in blue

[derekl_1963]

I'm trying to get into the habit of choosing/editing/posting on a regular basis... so when I have nothing in the queue I dive into the archives. This picture was actually taken last Sept along with these images.

I tried to crop it more conventionally, with more space for the bird to fly into, but it never seemed to work. It just seemed to me that it want to be framed just as it (accidentally) came out of the camera. Among other things, it seems to represent how I'm still feeling and losses I'm still wresting with. I also like how the full (original) frame emphasizes how the color of the sky is *not* uniform. That can be to the photographer's advantage even at times that aren't sunrise or sunset.

I edited this in DPP, straight from the RAW. While DPP only allows a few basic whole-image tools, sometimes it's the best tool for the job. (And I'm slowly getting more comfortable editing from RAW and relying less on in-camera processing and complex edits in Elements.)

Also, this is the third minimalist seagull shot I've posted in a fairly short time span... (Others here and here.) I don't know what that says, other than they just keep catching my eye.