This shot was a culmination of 600 shots over 2 days at Westport beach in Mendocino county on the northern coast of California. With the myriad adjustments available with the Canon digital rebel xt, it was, shoot 50 shots on the beach and run to the computer to see how I messed up...read a little section of the manual, and back to the beach again for more! I wanted to capture a gull in flight in crisp focus. Well, here it is! The winning formula: Canon Digital Rebel XT, 75-300mm IS Zoom set at 300mm, Shutter priority mode, 1/1000 sec exposure, auto aperature, auto white balance, 400 ISO speed on sunny afternoon. On the ride home, i happened to glance at the manual for the zoom lens...oops..it states there are 2 IS modes, one for still subjects, and one for moving targets. Naturally, i had it set for still subjects....looks like i might be forced into another beach day...