The story behind the shot
Shot at Sandy Hook during a get-together with a few fellow photographers. While we were all working our own angles along the beach, this laughing gull came strolling down the waterline like it had somewhere to be. I got low to meet it at eye level — sometimes the best subject on a photo outing is the one that walks right up to you.
A laughing gull in breeding plumage — dark hood, white crescents above the eye, deep red bill — walks the wet edge of a pebble and sand beach, gray water blurred behind it.