Tern On

[Marina Scarr]

Despite the severe weather we have been experiencing, there seems to be a lot of Least Tern mating/nesting activity. Their mating ritual lasts several minutes, and I was scanning the beach for opportunities with various pairs. Once I saw this male had a fish and both of their heads were bobbing back and forth, I knew it was time to move in. On this particular evening I opted for shooting with my 400L & 1.4 which I found to be very beneficial b/c it's such a light combination and allowed me to move faster and lower, and I was very pleased with the results.

Canon 1D4, Canon 400L F5.6 & 1.4 TC
F10, 1/1250sec, ISO 800, manual mode
Handheld

Comments and critiques always most welcomed and appreciated!

[stuart wanuck]

Nicely done know you love those terns

[Joe Senzatimore]

Beautiful light and comp. low angle is killer , as is the title.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Great action & lovely warm light. Super low shooting angle & nice shallow DOF. TFS

[Loi Nguyen]

Marina, did he offer her the fish afterward? such an interesting behavior that I have not heard before. Excellent light, perfect exposure, good details on the white, nice low angle. Loi

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

So did your hair get any longer waiting for the guy to close the deal? LOL They sure are fun to watch especially with how long he takes to move in. Nice timing nice low angle and warm light.

[Diane Miller]

Great moment, beautifully presented. The shadow is a nice touch. What would you think about a slight desaturation / lightening of the warm colors in the top half? They compete with the beautiful birds a little bit and add weight that imbalances things a little.

Yes, who got the fish? (Sort of like bringing flowers on a date?)

[Bill Dix]

Wonderful image. Great timing, low POV and techs. I watched the fish-offering behavior on Plum Island last week, but never caught the ultimate moment as you have here. Nicely done. And a killer title.

[Troy Lim]

IQ is great and moment is good.
Have you tried with the 1.4TC III? I need to give that a try..

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Marina, beautiful moment captured, well timed/executed. The colours look towards early evening, so looks spot on with a nice warm cast to the whites, wouldn't change a thing. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[Ilija Dukovski]

Great capture, excellent light. I like it a lot.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Marina, excellent low angle, and the courting behaviour captured perfectly. The light sure is sweet, and we have a great view of the fish against the clean BG. Placement works well too. An opportunity well used.

[Jeannean Ryman]

Wonderful shot with great light, behavior, low POV, and very catchy title. Love it!

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent image Marina! love the exposure, details also the interaction and the fish

super

[Frank Schauf]

Fantastic. Wonderful pose, colors and background.

[Marina Scarr]

Yes, who got the fish? (Sort of like bringing flowers on a date?)

The next frame is the male passing the female the fish as he mates her. It's an amazing spectacle from beginning to end. Getting good angles on the hand off is the most difficult. You are right, Diane. This is like bringing flowers on the date. I have been photographing kites lately (as you have), and after mating, the male always brought in food for the female and handed it off to her. I just love learning about their behaviors just by spending so much time with them.

[Girish Prahalad]

superb image! excellent interaction captured. great exp, IQ & comp.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image of beautiful moment.Love the wing position ,very nice details in whites,colors and composition.
Nice information too.

Regards,
Satish.

[Sameer Shah]

Exceptional in every aspect! Great timing!