Caspian Tern in flight

[Jamie Douglas]

I headed out early on Sunday morning with a friend to a local beach area with the hopes of trying out my handheld technique (largely down to my new lens plate not arriving yet). After about an hour of scouring the coastline I spotted about three dozen white objects in the distance so thought I may as well make my way over to make the most of the in flight gull opportunities. To say I was pleasantly surprised to discover roughly 18 Caspian Terns amongst the common gulls was a understatement. I have longed to photograph these guys and just never had the chance. It was a pretty sandy experience and funny how quickly the tide can come in on you when your lying on the ground :) One minute your nice and dry and the next, oops time to move away from the soup.

After a little over 4hrs my arms were getting shaky and I was ready for home ( I recall a blog post from Artie mentioning he called it a day after 4hrs when HH the 500mm). Trudging back through the deep sand is never fun, let alone when you have a weight to carry with you.

Techs: Canon 1D Mark IV | 500mm F4 II | 1.4x III | 6.3 | 1/1250 | ISO400 | Manual | Handheld | Uncalibrated lens (on this weeks to do list)

In front of the computer: Two image RAW composite. One exposure for scene and the other (exp comp -1.00) for the feather detail (blended in CS6 using 8% opacity). RAW edited in LR4 and additional tonal adjustments, NR, sharpening, and resizing for web done in CS6.

Distant sandbar is less than ideal but there wasn't a work around option given the tide and sun angle.

Comments and critique always appreciated.
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:cheers:

Jamie

[Shawn Zierman]

Excellent image of this species. The light is bright but soft enough for the whites of the bird to look pleasant.
Solid exposure work. The sandbar seems ideal to me, as it provided visual interest and break in the bg, and
transects the subject in a decent spot.

[Girish Prahalad]

superb image! great job with exposure & details look good.

[Rachel Hollander]

Jamie - congrats on the new lens. Nice placement in frame, exp, wing position and sharpness.

TFS,
Rachel

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good job with the exposure (and the processing of it), sharp details, and nice bright but diffused light. Subject angling away a bit, and I agree with you about the sandbar...it's not the fact that it is there, it is that it runs across the subject.

Awesome encounter you had...those unexpected moments are one of the things that makes our hobby the great one that it is!!

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Exposed very well, great detail, excellent wing position and love the dangling feet.
Well done.

[Jamie Douglas]

Thank you for the feedback folks. I am considering returning on Saturday morning to get some more images if they are still about. Call it unfinished business if you will.

Cheers for the thoughts regarding the sandbar Daniel and you took my thoughts further when you mentioned it's more about how it is placed in the image rather than the inclusion of it. I think the slight turn is balanced by having the horizon line where it is, in this case.

I like an image to provoke a certain amount of imagination which allows the viewer to bring the photo to life in their mind and habitat is crucial for doing that. Next time out I might try and get the sandbar lower in the frame but I'll see how easy that is.

Hopefully my lens coat arrives before then so I am less anxious about all the sand.

Cheers everyone

Jamie</SPAN>

:5