Gull panning shots

[AKVet]

The sharpness with you panning is incredible.

 

[Kerro]

They are much better with the birds flying level. I like number 5 with dark background.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Only an opinion:

1 and 3 - The background looks more natural in 3 and in 1 the rotation distracts. For me, I wonder what 1 would look like with the background rotated like this and the bird flying level?

2 and 4 - For my eye I cannot get past the rotation combined with the wing position in 2, that is, my eye thinks coasting a bicycle uphill? With 4 I feel the light of the gull contrasts great with the darkness of the background.

5 - I believe this is your strongest photo. The positioning of the Gull in the background makes the image pop. This is also enhanced by the wing dipping into the rock level. The rockbed gives the illusion the bird in flying underwater....That could be a fun edit!

6 - The background reminds me of out of focus backsplash tile. Not in a negative way. It almost appears to have a light vignette. I feel somewhat neutral about the composition regarding the background. I wonder what it might look like with an overall slight exposure boost and then a diagonal exposure reduction on both sides of the photo. I wonder if this would draw you attention to the bird and give depth to the photo?

Good job and here is the pattern I see in the background: