{"id":6388,"date":"2012-10-19T03:55:31","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T09:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6388"},"modified":"2025-07-13T10:11:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T15:11:44","slug":"laughing-gull-white-balance-mess-up-and-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/19\/laughing-gull-white-balance-mess-up-and-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughing Gull White Balance Mess up and Fix"},"content":{"rendered":"

All photographers mess up, some times it is the focus, sometimes it is not having enough shutter speed for active subjects and sometimes a dial gets bumped and when it is not noticed it can affect all the images taken after it has been changed.<\/p>\n

\"Laughing

Laughing Gull – Manual White balance mistake<\/p><\/div>\n

I bumped my White Balance from Auto before I took this image and the effect on this image is clear.<\/p>\n

The plumage shown here is too brown for a mature Laughing Gull, only juvenile Laughing Gulls from hatching through the end of their first winter show brown, mature Laughing Gulls in breeding and nonbreeding plumage have gray backs, black on the wing tips and soft white necks, chests and rumps.<\/p>\n

\"manual-wb-laughing-gull\"<\/p>\n

Because I shoot in RAW and bring my RAW files into Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) I’m able to see the Temperature of my images and in this case I can see that the temperature of my white balance was 7100, way too high and too yellow for the conditions I was shooting in.<\/p>\n

\"Laughing

Laughing Gull – Manual White balance correction<\/p><\/div>\n

Also because I shoot in RAW I am easily able to correct my White Balance within ACR, this is the same image but I applied corrections so that the gulls gray plumage looks gray, the whites look soft white plus the sand and water look the right color.<\/p>\n

\"custom-wb-laughing-gull\"<\/p>\n

I made the adjustment by moving the slider towards the blues, in this case 5500 fixed my White Balance issue in the frame. Now the bird has the right colors for a Laughing Gull.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Laughing Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

*I am away from home, please feel free to share this post with your family & friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All photographers mess up, some times it is the focus, sometimes it is not having enough shutter speed for active subjects and sometimes a dial gets bumped and when it is not noticed it can affect all the images taken after it has been changed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150302,"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":[25,704,188,448],"tags":[4021,4083,3995,4160,4035,3980,446,4032],"class_list":["post-6388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-laughing-gulls-gulls","category-white-balance-adjustments","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-nature-photography","tag-pinellas-county","tag-white-balance-issues","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-custom-wb-mia-mcpherson-0848.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1F2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8739,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/29\/laughing-gulls-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":0},"title":"Laughing Gulls in breeding and nonbreeding plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Both of these Laughing Gull images were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida, the image above shows a Laughing gull in nonbreeding plumage that was taken in September of 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nonbreeding Laughing Gull, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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with gift for mate, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6391.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6391.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39116,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/02\/franklins-gull-and-laughing-gull-comparison\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":2},"title":"Franklin’s Gull and Laughing Gull Comparison","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I know this isn't a complete Franklin's Gull and Laughing Gull comparison but I'm not a scientist, just a bird photographer and bird lover.","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":"Franklin's Gull chasing Brine flies, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/franklins-gull-feeding-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-8201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/franklins-gull-feeding-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-8201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/franklins-gull-feeding-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-8201.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/franklins-gull-feeding-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-8201.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1648,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/17\/laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":3},"title":"Laughing Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Laughing Gull in breeding plumage in a blue lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-in-blue-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8989,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/26\/why-do-they-call-them-laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":4},"title":"Why Do They Call Them Laughing Gulls?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Laughing Gulls are quite noisy when they are in a flock but I never minded listening to them, in fact they often made me laugh.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Laughing Gull in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-calling-mia-mcpherson-8988.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-calling-mia-mcpherson-8988.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-calling-mia-mcpherson-8988.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14499,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/04\/adult-and-juvenile-laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":6388,"position":5},"title":"Adult and juvenile Laughing Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying adult Laughing Gull in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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