Common Tern

[Eric Freeman]

I stopped at a small pond last week, looking for the usual lone duck or heron cooling off, and it was jam packed with birds. My guess is that some aquatic critter hatched a load of offspring and the birds were having a feast. I concentrated on the terns since I have more shots of herons, sea gulls and pelicans than I know what to do with. C & C always welcome.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/9168651982_05da0404d1_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubadude1960/9168651982/)
Common Tern, 11x14 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubadude1960/9168651982/) by ScubaDude1960 (http://www.flickr.com/people/scubadude1960/), on Flickr

[Diane Miller]

I LOVE this! Beautiful pose and great light. Love the BG. I long to see a little more on the left, though. If you don't have it in the original file, it might be successful to add canvas and let Content-Aware Fill have a go at it.

[Doug Brown]

I like your sharpness. The head angle could be better. I would consider boosting your exposure, as the whites seem a little gray. I agree with Diane's suggestion on cropping, but I would crop a bit off the bottom too. Do I see a slight magenta cast? BTW photos can be 1200 pixels wide but only 900 pixels tall.

[Eric Freeman]

Thanx for the comments. I didn't notice the color cast and brightness (I've been 'shopping photos for two days, and getting a bit cross-eyed from it). I gave it a little more room on the left, but keeping it at an 11 x 14 ratio didn't give me many options for cropping the bottom. How does this look (now sized to 900 pix tall)?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7401/9210905920_f50f304461_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubadude1960/9210905920/)
Common Tern, 11x14 re-edit (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubadude1960/9210905920/) by ScubaDude1960 (http://www.flickr.com/people/scubadude1960/), on Flickr

[Diane Miller]

I like the brighter version -- I was so taken with the pose that I didn't notice it was low in contrast. You might think about leaving the contrast low on the trees (below the wingtip) though, or otherwise subduing the sky areas in the LR. That would give even more subtle emphasis to the bird.

[Wayne Richardson]

Hi Eric

The brighter version is an improvement, but there is more pronounced clipping of the highlights than on original post.

BTW the orange legs/bill make this a Forster's Tern. :w3

Cheers: Wayne