Mating Royal Terns

[Doug Brown]

Here's another frame from my visit to Florida. There were quite a few Terns, so getting a clear shot required a fair amount of searching for a good angle. Luckily the mating behavior lasted for several minutes!

Canon 1Dx, 600 mm II + 1.4x III, f/7.1, 1/3200, ISO 500, manual exposure, hand held

[Joe Subolefsky]

Awesome image love the colors, catch light in both eyes and the exposure looks spot on and that could not be easy with all those colors.

Question I've never really shot shore birds right on the beach are the ground pods worth it? I see you noted yours as handheld. Asking because I just learned not far from me thousands of Rednots? come to the beach to feed on horseshoe crab eggs in a couple week and plan on giving it a whirl.

[Doug Brown]

Question I've never really shot shore birds right on the beach are the ground pods worth it? I see you noted yours as handheld. Asking because I just learned not far from me thousands of Rednots? come to the beach to feed on horseshoe crab eggs in a couple week and plan on giving it a whirl.

Thanks Joe! I have a ground pod but have never used it. I'm no expert on shorebirds as I live in the desert, but I find that sitting down in the sand (and lying on my belly occasionally) is more than sufficient.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent action shot, perfect exposure.

[Marina Scarr]

This mating capture is over the top good, Doug. The light and angle are amazing and the male's raised foot really increases the interest.

A couple of years ago, I purchased a ground pod and have used it a total of 2x. I do a lot of putting on and taking off of teleconverters when I am shooting, and I don't find the ground pod convenient. Maybe I haen't given it enough of a chance.

[Frank Schauf]

Fantastic light and great scene.

[David Salem]

That was a great evening at Fort Desoto Doug. We had allot of action with IF stuff and the bonus was these guys copulating right in front of us. My first shots of Terns breeding.
The frame looks great with the light angle being perfect and the feather detail is great. Good look at the eyes, which can be tricky to get right, and the wings up pose of the male is very nice and everything is set off beautifully by that smooth varied BG. Nice work. See ya soon.

[Danny Laredo]

Fantastic light BG and interaction.

[arash_hazeghi]

wow this is sweet Doug, wish it was mine! your best shot from this trip so far.

did you have more room on the upper right corner BTW?

[Doug Brown]

wow this is sweet Doug, wish it was mine! your best shot from this trip so far.

did you have more room on the upper right corner BTW?

Thanks Arash. No extra room up top unfortunately.

[Troy Lim]

such a great shot...love it all..

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super shot excellent details, lovely background too.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Fantastic IQ, and the BG is top notch. You could not have asked for a better spot for this couple to mate!

[Ian Wilson]

A great action shot, technically superb, I love it!

[Glenn Conlan]

Great shot Doug, no improvement necessary that I can see. Our Terns are starting to give us some action

Glenn

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for taking the time to comment everyone!

[Binu John]

What a stunning shot! Love the lighting, exposure, details, action, HA of both the birds..... A perfect shot, Doug!

[Robert Kimbrell]

Hey Doug, This is killer image. very nice light, exposure and sharpness.