Nothing in life is free!

[gail bisson]

Least terns mating.
Estero lagoon, Fort Myers, Florida
canon 1DX
f 600mm and 1.4 X
ISO 400
SS 1/2500 @ F 6.3
PP: Crop to 60% FF, cloned out an OOF grass at bottom of frame, levels, NR to BG, DE to birds only and USM to JPEG.
There is a little feather on the female's lower mandible that I could clone out if it bothers you.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[Joe Galkowski]

Wow Gail! This is perfect. Just the right moment, great angle of view, great BG, simply beautiful. Were it mine, and boy I wish it was, I would step up the catchlight in the male's eye. It is there, but I would just take it up a notch in size or contrast or both. The little feather on the female's bill does not bother me at all. I would leave it. Great photograph.

[gail bisson]

Excellent suggestion Joe! Thank you. Here is a repost,

[Joe Galkowski]

Awesome!

[Grace Scalzo]

What a perfect moment captured. Love the interaction.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Gail,

This must be my favourite of your recent images and I would give anything to see this, albeit photograph it! Outstanding capture, there's something very appealing about this, an elegance of movement from the two subjects that resembles a ballet -what perfect pose! Beautifully exposed, if I were to change anything, I would slightly enhance the catchlight in the eye of the birds... absolutely love it, congratulations!

Kind regards,

[Steve Spenceley]

Great capture.

[John Rowell]

Superb IQ, the detail is just lovely. I really like the way you've been able to capture the eyes of both terns as so many times they blend in with the black feathers. Just beautiful.

[Sridatta Chegu]

Stunning shot Gail! Beautiful pose and interaction, great lighting, sharp details and I really love the way the female is looking at the male (or the fish, or both :w3 )

[robinlee]

Superb!

I might crop out a little more on the left, the female is looking towards the male and on the right also maybe a little on the top... Good luck

[John Robinson]

NICE !
Iwould take some off the top Thats just me though.
John

[christopher galeski]

This is a magic image,IQ spot on,nice low plane of view,great light,agree on cropping some off the top of frame.well done.

[Ian Wilson]

Beautiful, beautiful work. Hard to forget. Cheers, Ian

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Wonderful capture, Gail. The IQ is over the top. Very nice repost.




Geoffrey

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent, and the enhanced catchlight adds so much...amazing how a little tweak like that can go a long way. Since the feather is not really that obvious that it is just that I would personally clone it out.

[Karl Egressy]

Great behavior image captured, Gail.

[Bill Dix]

"Wow, Gail, this is perfect!" Or that's what I was going to say before I saw that Joe already used that line. But having seen the repost, now I'll say it: Wow, Gail, this is perfect!

[Enrique Patino]

great image and suggestions for the repost. Looks great.

[Mike Milicia]

Great moment in a beautiful setting!

[David Salem]

Very nice Gail. The male with the offering, his foot up, and the females head turn, make this a notch above the standard copulating shot. Great that we can see the fish well and it's eye. Techs look good too.
Perfect caption :)

[KathieThomas]

Wow, what an amazing shot. Love it.

[Frank Schauf]

Fantastic. Wonderful scene, colors and background.

[Binu John]

Wow! what a sweet shot, Gail! You nailed it! Love the light, pose, BG and the POV!

[Pamela de Zilva]

As always, great work Gail. Great exposure and feather detail..