Forster's Tern - a first

[Miguel Palaviccini]

One of the last edited shots from 2012, this Forster's tern proved to be a challenge to photograph. Their erratic flight patterns while hunting kept my keeper rate low. This was a new species for me, and I was glad to get a decent picture of one. This was shot right around noon, and the light was harsh. There was no recovering the blown out whites. My thought was to get some detail in the face/eye, and hope that the whites would be close enough to recoverable. You can see that I was able to recover some whites on the wings, but they do look a bit grey. Any ideas on how to shoot this situation? If I would have shot so that there were no blown out whites, would I have been able to pull out detail in the eye/head? Comments appreciated!

Shooting info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR | tripod
1/2000 | f/4 | ISO 400


<iframe width="468" height="60" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://mer54715.datafeedfile.com/widget/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=10536&aff_net=1&widget_num=1720"><p>Sorry your browser does not support iFrame</p></iframe>

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the pose and BG, but the whites are blown and have no detail left.

In this situation you have to expose for the whites and then pull the shadows in post. The D800 does not have much shadow/banding noise so bringing up shadows is a piece of cake.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Nice pose, bg and comp. Too bad about the blown whites. I agree with Arash about exposing for the whites.
How much is the over exposure and what did you use to recover?
ACR seems to do a great job with selective exposure adjustments.
Check this out, it's a great tutorial:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/76189-Salvaged-Barred-Owl?highlight=

[David Salem]

Miguel congratulations on your first Fosters Tern. Nice pose and wing position. Definitely a challenge to get these birds exposed rite an even just to get them in the frame is a challenge enough too.
I do quite a bit of shooting Terns and have found that if it is sunny set your camera at 5.6 and 1/3200.
Should keep the Whites about right and stop the action well. Might be a little under exposed but as Arash mentioned you should be able to bring the darks back in PP. Hope this helps.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, great diagonal banking angle, and against a sweet BG. As you stated, shooting later in the day doesnt really help for whites, and I find, even in early morning, if the light hits the whites at the wrong angle, you have no chance of nailing the exposure.

[Robert Holguin]

Nice shot.
I really like the flight pose and wonderful background.
To bad about the whites, but I would stll be very happy with this shot.
Well done.

[Shawn Zierman]

I like the flight pose, and the bird pops nicely against the earth tones in the background.
What exposure mode did you use? Manual mode/spot meter works very well in this scenario, regarding protecting the highlights....(imo) :)

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thank you for the comments guys. I may have to head back soon and hope they are still around.

[Randy Stout]

Miguel:

Nice pose, framing. To further expand on Arash's comments, the D800 has a wonderful dynamic range at that ISO, one of the very best available at this time, so shooting to protect the whites and then bringing up the darker areas in post usually works very well.
I have found with the D4, I can shoot in much brighter conditions and still control the exposure better than I could with the D700, which had a good, but lesser dynamic range. An for loons, you need all the dynamic range you can get! :bg3:

Get back out there and try it again!

Cheers

Randy

[Satish Ranadive]

Miguel:
Beautiful flight shot.I like the pose,wing position,BG and composition.
Rest is mentioned above.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Terric shot great action. I remember once a certain eminent photographer gave me the following advice "expose for the highlights", to which may be added "in the subject" (as opposed to just being in the frame).