On a wildlife photography workshop I attended a few years ago we had a bit of time spare before a booked venue session and a suggestion was made that we could spend the time photographing gulls. This was met with some significant push-back by one of the participants who had less than no interest in photographing gulls. I found that interesting as I often photograph gulls so we obviously had quite different motivations in our photography.

So why do I photograph gulls?

Firstly, I think they’re beautiful and interesting. Despite being threatened they can be quite common and like sparrows, their abundance doesn’t make them any less beautiful. Their clean white plumage, contrasting blacks and brightly coloured highlights are gorgeous. I am envious of their flight skills but less so of their raucous habits and dietary choices. They are seldom sitting around doing nothing so interesting activity and behaviours are there to photograph.

Secondly, their relative abundance, choice of habitat and activity make them excellent subjects to practice bird photography on. Looking for action, lining opportunities up against good backgrounds and tracking flight are all excellent scenarios to hone your photography skills. Photography and especially wildlife photography, that can present opportunities at short notice, require physical skills that improve with practice. I am alway better when photographing every day than when trying to fit photography in around other commitments.

Having white plumage, gulls are unforgiving of overexposure so are a great subject for keeping on top of all the skills you need for bird photography. If you have a photography trip planned I would strongly suggest spending some regular time photographing gulls in the weeks prior to make sure all your reflexes are up to speed and you hit the ground running when you get to your destination. Wasting precious time getting dialled in just risks wasting opportunities with more rare subjects. Get out there, enjoying watching and photographing gulls. Your serious photography can only benefit from it and you will end up with some lovely images of beautiful birds anyway.

These photos were all taken on a short morning walk on the beach with the Nikon Z8 and Nikkor Z 180-600mm f5.6-6.3 VR