Caspian Terns and a Trout

[Stephen Stephen]

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s219/Squidcan/Birds3/Caspian08_10.jpg

I created this image in August while in Hamilton Ontario. I was photographing Caspian Terns in Burlington Harbour early one morning when the lower bird approached being followed closely by the upper bird who was definitely trying to steal the trout. The lower bird managed to keep that catch for itself (or it's youngster)

Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm at 500mm. F 8.0, ISO 400, 1/2500 sec handheld. I was shooting with fill flash but in this particular the flash was recharging after a burst.

Cropped to about 40% of full frame. I had originally clipped the upper wing tip but I added some canvas and re-built the tip from another frame. I'm not sure why the BG show some noise.

[Tony Whitehead]

Interesting behavior caught here, Stephen. The birds stand out well against that dark sky. I think the image is suffering from being a significant crop with some loss of resolution and BG noise. Not sure your flash would have had much impact at 40% of 500mm frame, F8 and 1/2500 even if it had recycled.

[Stephen Stephen]

Thanks Tony. The lighting was good on the birds because it came from behind me and the dark background was courtesy of an incoming thunder storm.

I've been struggling with noise in the images taken that morning, including those with smaller crops. I think that it's got something to do with my post processing technique or lack thereof. I'm attaching a revised version that I ran through the freeware version of Neat Image.

The noise in the BG has been reduced but the birds seem to suffer as there now appears to be a cloudy halo around them.