Common tern

[Gordon McKechnie]

I took this a few weeks ago, before I had acquired my 100-400mm lens, so had to crop in to about 40%

Canon 50D EF 18-200mm @ 200mm, f5.6 1/2000 ISO800

[Harold Davis]

nice light and angle. it held up well to the crop. some nice detail left in there. i'd give it some CCW rotation by leveling it with the darker wave? it throws me off a little.

[Ray Rozema]

Very good HA, eye contact and wing position. Wonder if did a little more selective sharpening of the bird could you bring out a little more detail and texture:).

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Gordon

Like your tech info Got the ISO high enough to increase the shutter speed and give yourself a chance !!! Exposure wise its a little over I tried downloading and bringing detail back but was unable to do it for all areas .. however all is not lost !!! You could clone some texture from adjacent areas at about 70% ... looks good !!

Pose wise you want the wings up or down Bent wings will always be problematic. One thing that looks good and is important is having a clearly visible eye which you have !!!

Next time you go out make a perfect exposure and set the values in manual !!! Will be fun shooting with your new lens !! Remember to set the close/far properly and prefocus for faster acquisition !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gordon - agree 100% with AL - exposure is one of the things IMHO you should definetly be striving to get right in camera - through the use of your over exposure blinkies and your histogram. There are a number of resources in the educational resources forum on these subjects.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8022
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8197

Like the HA and eye contact - AL has the techs covered.

[Ron Boisvert]

Gordon, Do you know what AF settings and sensors you were using? AI Servo, One Shot, center sensor point only, all sensor points...?

Thanks!

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Gordon,
I like the flight angle...agree with Mr. Forns on the techs...good advise given...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Gordon McKechnie]

Thanks all for very useful advice (as usual!)

I have tried again: went back to RAW & decreased exposure on the tern. Rotated CCW a bit. Was more careful & selective with NR & sharpening, and lightened around the eye a bit more

(Ron - it was AI servo with all AF sensors)

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

I like the repost better, you can see much more details in the white area. Agree with all the suggestions above.