{"id":13483,"date":"2014-01-16T04:52:13","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T11:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=13483"},"modified":"2025-08-05T10:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:29:09","slug":"a-ring-billed-gull-light-on-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/16\/a-ring-billed-gull-light-on-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring-billed Gull – Light on Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull against dark background – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 270mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems that more than a few bird photographers avoid taking images of gulls perhaps in part because they are common in so many locations or because gulls are associated with trash but I enjoy taking images of gulls especially if they are in flight or in a great setting.<\/p>\n

For new photographers who want to work on flight photography gulls make excellent subjects to practice on.<\/p>\n

In most areas of North America Ring-billed Gulls are the most commonly seen gull and not only are they beautiful they are also\u00a0fun and challenging\u00a0to photograph.<\/p>\n

The day I photographed this Ring-billed Gull at Fort De Soto’s north beach there were baitfish in the hundreds of thousands running just off shore and pelicans, egrets, terns and gulls were all in a feeding frenzy.<\/p>\n

Most of the images I took that day had water or sky in the background but when this Ring-billed Gull flew into the beach to land it had dark trees in the background.<\/p>\n

The light gull against the dark background was and still is very appealing to me and I also enjoy the wing position, flared tail and head angle.<\/p>\n

Common? Maybe. I knew as soon as I saw this through my viewfinder I was going to love the image. I wasn’t wrong.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ring-billed Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The day I photographed this Ring-billed Gull at Fort De Soto’s north beach there were baitfish in the hundreds of thousands running just off shore and pelicans, egrets, terns and gulls were all in a feeding frenzy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,410],"tags":[4004,4021,4083,4052,4122,4264,4035,3980,4468,4032],"class_list":["post-13483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-ring-billed-gulls","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-nature-photography","tag-pinellas-county","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-florida-mia-mcpherson-3910.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3vt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3865,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/12\/18\/ring-billed-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":13483,"position":0},"title":"Ring-billed 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"For most of the year Ring-billed and California Gulls are some of the most common gulls here in northern Utah and for some people it might be challenging to tell them apart.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull taking an early morning stroll, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ring-billed-gull-breeding-mia-mcpherson-7689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ring-billed-gull-breeding-mia-mcpherson-7689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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