magnetoman wrote:
Having had a poor start to BIF, I took Birdpix's advice and went off to practice handheld - just some gulls, so there would be plenty of choice AND they are closer! Feel free to advise.
OKAY! It's always nice to know someones listening. You've done well and I'm sure you have many more photos than you have shared. So now, do it again but go earlier or later in the day so the sun is lower and try to get the sun, more or less, behind you. It will improve your shots as there will not be the harsh shadows underneath the bird.
In the future, it will be helpful to include the exif data and to check "Download Original" so we can pixel peep a bit.