Forster's Tern

[Doug Brown]

I'm back in California doing some photography this week and I can't seem to get enough of the beautiful terns here.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/photos/360341045_CsFoE-O.jpg

Canon 1D Mark III, 600mm, f/7.1, 1/3200, ISO 400, +1/3 EC, no flash, tripod

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

This is really a great image. The sharpness and especially the DOF is cool.
Love the turn resulting the view of the top side.

Szimi

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice work Doug. Good head turn and nice banking position to show off the wings. I love these birds.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Just an outstanding image. The wing position makes this one.

[Glenn Bartley]

Very nice! Great pose and eye contact. Have fun :)

[Fabs Forns]

This is as good as it gets!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

It has all been said Doug. Superb flight capture !!!

[Brutus Ostling]

Wing positioned very well, eye clear, it even looks like eye-contact, nice light. Perfect!

[Juan Aragonés]

Very good banking position, good eye contact, sharpness and excelent exposure. I want one like this on my files Doug:)

[W T Lloyd]

I like it, but it bothers me that the eye has almost disappeared in the surrounding feathers. In my own work, I am always puzzled, what can be done to make the eye stand out more when it is surrounded by such dark feathers. Not a criticism here, just wondering how to do this. I used curves on a selection to lighten the iris on a Gannet photo I last posted....Would pushing exposure or highlights up on a birds face demean the true color/shading the bird really appears in?
Of course, monitor display variations and the upload requirements here are other considerations.

[Markus Jais]

wonderful shot. great angle and wing position.

Markus

[Doug Brown]

You bring up a good question. When I take photos of birds with lots of whites and blacks, I've been trying to expose to the right so that I have better detail in the blacks. I find that 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop of overexposure is easily recovered in RAW processing. In Lightroom 2 there is an exposure brush that I use to lighten the blacks if needed. In PS there's are any number of tools to bring out detail in the blacks. I also lighten the iris. On my monitor this photo has pretty good differentiation between the eye and the surrounding feathers.

[Linda Robbins]

Doug, this is beautiful. Love everything about it!

[Gus Cobos]

Nicely done Doug,
I like the details and colors in the bird. The flight angle is a killer..Congrats...:cool:

[Greg Basco]

Very nice, Doug. I can't find anything to pick on. Now you just need to print it big and choose a frame.

Cheers,
Greg