Roseate terns #2 Lean on Me

[gail bisson]

Same pair as my last post.
I did run this image through detail extractor ( as Grace suggested) for the hot chest feathers of female and underwings on the male. The RAW showed 252 on the chest.
I cloned out all 3 leg bands and OOF birds on LHS of frame.
Canon 1D MKIV
F 500 and 1.4x
ISO 400 SS 1/1250
F 8.0
Manual at ~ 8:15AM
I know I am anthromorphosizing (?sp)this but this looks like an intimate moment.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Sweet. And intimate. What wonderful poses, and the techs look great - nicely recovered whites. I like the choice of centered comp. I'm envious that you were not only able to see these uncommon birds, but to get such lovely shots of them.

[Rachel Hollander]

Gail - I agree that the centered comp works well here. Nice job on the processing and sweet interaction, particularly like the bill coming over the top.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love the low angle, the comp and the intimate moment captured.
Hard not to anthropomorphize :)
What is this detail extractor thing? Some PS filter add-on/plugin?

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, another low angle of capture that works so well, and you have timed both the interaction and wingspread nicely. Exposure looks good, and I like the smooth sand in the FG.

[gail bisson]

Love the low angle, the comp and the intimate moment captured.
Hard not to anthropomorphize :)
What is this detail extractor thing? Some PS filter add-on/plugin?
Hi Sid,
Yes, detail extractor is part of Color Effex Pro- a plug-in for LR or Photoshop.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Nice interaction captured at a lovely low angle, Gail. It looks like the male courting the female.

[Grace Scalzo]

Hi Gail...the interaction is totally sweet. I do have one question...how much beach clean up did you do? There's something almost too sanitary about this image for my taste, including lack of almost all shadows. Did you use any flash? Let me know....I'm curious. You were 1/3 stop brighter than sunny 16 so conditions were bright and this is not quite sitting with my eye and I do think it's the cleanliness and lack of shadow.

[gail bisson]

Hi Grace,
I am at work but will post the original after work. The beach was pristine with no litter at all. This area of the beach was very near the edge of the shore . I can't explain the lack of shadows.
Anyway, I will post the original raw after work for you to see,
Gail
Scalzo;814458]Hi Gail...the interaction is totally sweet. I do have one question...how much beach clean up did you do? There's something almost too sanitary about this image for my taste, including lack of almost all shadows. Did you use any flash? Let me know....I'm curious. You were 1/3 stop brighter than sunny 16 so conditions were bright and this is not quite sitting with my eye and I do think it's the cleanliness and lack of shadow.[/QUOTE]

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks, Gail. I'll look for it this evening.

[gail bisson]

Hi Grace,
Here is the untouched TIFF

[Grace Scalzo]

That is a remarkably clean image, terns on left not withstanding. I'm still not quite understanding the light here, because if the light was high enough to not create a shadow on the beach, (Sunny 16 exposure) I would have excpected more under the wings, but you have not mentined flash. Was it a bright overcast day?

[Grace Scalzo]

I just think I figured this out....the clean, bright, dry sand acted as a reflector and lit up the underside of the wing. I almost never shoot in sand like this, but this now makes sense. Nice!

[rajojomanik]

Very intimate moment indeed. Love the low angle, beautiful background and well exposed.

You are a photoshop guru, amazing job on the cloning of leg bands.