Turn

[Robert Kimbrell]

Sony A9. Sony 400 2.8 & 1.4
1/5000, F6.3, ISO 500.
Thursday, I drove 2 hours each way for an evening shoot at Ft. De Soto. I love being there even if the birds are not plentiful. I arrived a little early so I stopped at the pier. The Hybrid was not in his usual location but the Skimmers and Terns were feasting on a huge school of bait fish. As the sun was getting lower, I found some bathing terns that might fly into the background I wanted and that is were I stayed. Just prior to sunset with the beach nearly to myself, a squadron on Spoonbills flew in and landed in a beautiful spot. I was going to have to lay flat in some nasty bird poop to line up that beautiful Ft. De Soto background, a few test shots -------and the moment was gone. The landing lasted about 45 seconds. No shots worth sharing, but here is an image of a Tern shaking dry.

[dankearl]

Classic shake, nicely done...
A nice consolation prize.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Robert your trip was worthwhile! I really like the pose do you call it shake off? The water droplets running vertically from the bill really look great and the image is sharp. The eye is closed but I see nothing wrong with that, the darkest head plumage is a little lacking in detail I think I would lift the darks there.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Cool pose. No changes from me.

It works very well.

TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Robert,

Was this at the pier? Looks like not .. IAC, it is a wonderful image that is all about the BKGR. I know that it is a natural behavior but bummer on the nictitating membrane ...

with love, artie

[John Mack]

Classic turn shake off. Like all that water drops. Nice three toned color background.

[Bob Smith]

Nice work catching this Robert. The BG colours work really well and your subject in just the right position against the darkest area. Sharp focus on the beak tip and underwing feathers looks really good too although I'm having a hard time figuring out how this fellow managed this contortion.<script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/579529cb/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/579529cb/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>

[Robert Kimbrell]

Thank you all, I appreciate the comments. Jonathan, I actually call the pose a "Tern turn". Artie, I was out on the sandbar using North Beach as a backdrop. I am not thrilled with the nictitating membrane either, but it is present in most of these shots. Thanks Bob, Yes they can turn their heads at least 180 degrees. With Terns, the shake is nearly a given after a bath.

[arash_hazeghi]

classic Tern shot, love the faint trail of water, light and the dynamic pose. The image is a bit soft to my eye, I'd apply more (fine) sharpening to bring out the details

@ Artie I have never seen a tern do the famous barrel roll with the nictitating membrane open, it's always shut

[arash_hazeghi]

I took the liberty of sharpening this one, quite a bit better now

as always it is best to start with RAW

[Robert Kimbrell]

Thanks Arash. You did pull out more detail. It looks great. I am still inspired by the one you posted years ago. Thanks.