Elegant Tern

[Kirk Benson]

Elegant Tern emerging from the water after a failed dive on a beautiful day late in the afternoon at Bolsa Chica Wetlands. Many shots to choose from on this session, but I really like the wing position in this frame.

D500 w 500 f/4 D AF-S (non VR) ~ 1/4000s f/6.3 ISO 200 Handheld ~ Processed in PSCC

All C&C are greatly encouraged and most appreciated. :-)

Kirk

[Tim Foltz]

Kirk, excellent, love the pose, the water drops, sharp… you nailed it.
Great shot.

-Tim

[Arthur Morris]

Great that you got the focus under the wing to the face. And yes, love the wing position.

Please let us know more about your AF set-up and the active AF point.

a

[Sandeep Chakraborty]

wow absolutely fantastic image. The light and water droplets added much.

Regards- Sandeep

[arash_hazeghi]

pretty dynamic frame Kirk, sharp and well exposed. the water drops are a plus too. Well done

[annmpacheco]

Super job here Kirk, love the wing position and the sharpness where it counts. pretty amazing!

[Glenn Conlan]

Nice capture Kirk, the water drops are great, not to mention tack sharp. Looks like a great summer for tern images

[Kirk Benson]

Great that you got the focus under the wing to the face. And yes, love the wing position.

Please let us know more about your AF set-up and the active AF point.

a

Thanks for the good words Artie, most appreciated.

AF-Area Mode used was "Group" which is 4 points (acting as one) at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions... in this image the 9 o'clock focus point was directly on the beak which was quite fortunate. I always use rear button (AF-On) focusing method. I have been extremely impressed with the D500's focus acquisition speed and tracking ability.

Kirk

[Adhika Lie]

Wow, just like in Gail's image, I really like this wing position. I can definitely see Artie's point with regards to the AF. Do you think the D500 make a difference in this shot?

[David Salem]

A classic gettin out of the water Tern shot Kirk. Killer colors and details along with lots of nice trailing water giving this image movement and action. Well done. Im hoping to run into you out there sometime this summer. Lots of terns this year!

[Kirk Benson]

Many thanks to all for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the image. :-)

Kirk

[Tom Sarver]

Nicely exposed as you have achieved the separation between the black marking and the eye without blowing out the whites.

Tom