The King Surveying his Domain Photo

Photographer’s Note

The King Surveying His Domain

Black-Backed Gull (larus dominicanus)( Maori: Karoro). This Karoro is the only large gull in New Zealand. It has a wingspan of 120cm.

Here it is at the Tamaki Yacht Club on the Tamaki drive, surveying the Waitemata Harbour with Auckland City in the distance.

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand with a population of over one million people. Positioned between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea the city has become known as the city of sails because of the large number of pleasure craft there.

Auckland’s coastline was moulded in a volcanic upheaval that began over 20 million years ago. It is the remnant eastern slope of a once-giant volcano that was ground away by the relentless sea.

People have lived here for a thousand years. The local Maori are the Kawerau a Maki, who cultivated the lowlands and fought unfriendly neighbours from fortified pa sites all along the cliffs above the shoreline.

fabio_ts, ktanska, efigesta, supereira, josepmarin, deud, tonyking, lukas, elihesamian, ALIRIZA has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

fabio_ts (13674) 2006-02-27 3:05

Lovely composition with great DOF Janice, excellent work!!

nice week,
Fabio.

ktanska (16524) 2006-02-27 4:49

Hi Janice,
The gull is a great detail here. Excellent depth of field. And very good place to have a look at the city skyline, as well as across the harbour.
(We stayed near there, in B&B called Nautical Nook in Okahu Bay.)
Kari

sfirmston (88) 2006-02-27 4:56

Great Depth of Field Janice you've kept everything nice and sharpe so there is plenty of detail to the city, shame the weather has packed it in for now though, still too much more sun might of made the shot much harder with the apature needed to keep the whole shot as sharpe as possible.

efigesta (12181) 2006-02-27 5:08

Hi my friend

the gull here is so great, you give us a postcard, the pov so amazing and good colors
regards
manuel

supereira (9576) 2006-02-27 6:37

Great shot.I like it!I like the composition and DOF.Good contrast between the city and the sky.I like the detail of the boat.Good job!

rbcy1974 (20742) 2006-02-27 7:22

Hello Janice
nicely captured details both in the bird and in the skyline
nice light
well done
regards
Daniel

josepmarin (33785) 2006-02-27 14:18

Hi Janice
Great photo. Impressive the image of the gull watching the sea and the skyline in the rear.
The contrast between the cloudy sky and the sea is perfect.
Excellent work.
Regards
Josep

izmirli (3071) 2006-02-28 18:08

merhaba my friend janice. beautiful seegull.very good city and colours.well done.
gürkan akçakır.

deud (1841) 2006-03-02 6:50

lovely composition and colors. very good visual impact. tfs

mdetay (4267) 2006-03-02 18:35

Hi Janice,
Good idea, well done, well-composed and good DOF.
You captured the 'meaning' of New Zealand. The sky is nice and the city is great.
Excellent. This is a meaningful picture.
Thanks.
Cheers.
MD

mumek (17468) 2006-03-03 6:56

Good morning Janice!
What a beautiful postcard from Auckland! You captured a nice skyline of the city. The gull in the foreground adds a lot of charm to this scenery.Very well done. The note as usual very informative.
best regards
ziggy

rabdelnoor (2973) 2006-03-05 17:05

Hi Janice,
What a great compostion. The city on the background with the sea in front would be great already. The presence of the gull enhanced the compostion largely and made this shot very impressive. A great one my friend.
Take care,
Ricardo

tonyking (1599) 2006-03-13 5:56

Hi Janice,
This pic is wonderful! The composition is so good in the way you've captured the gull in relation to the city in the backgroung and also in the way it's stark, black and white plumage contrasts with the rest of the pic.
Sometimes even a grey, NZ day can look good. This pic proves that. Now about that rain.... ;-)

Hugs,
Tony

elihesamian (26091) 2006-03-18 6:11

What a nice sea gull !
with a beautiful graphism of the black in her wings !

and what a catch !
with that background,seems she is standing just for you for your photography :)

and you used it nicely !
another great informative shot and beautiful,too,with a special sky and depth,well worked dear Janice,

Best
M

ALIRIZA (16197) 2006-04-01 6:51

Hello Janice,
Good composition, very nice shot with gull. Beautiful image with good framing, Point of view, depth of field, colors and sharpness you have caught. Congratulations...
Ali Rıza

ArtLook (2332) 2006-04-12 16:27

Hi Janice,

Very good composition, the gull looks very grandiose on the background with modern city. The colors and clouds make some sharm to this view. Nice colors and sharp details on this picture. Well done, Bravo!

With BEST regards,
Arthur