Catch me if you can.

[Ashutosh Sinha]

Forster's Tern coming out of water with catch.
Spec : Canon 40D, 400mm f/5.6L, ISO 250, F 5.6, 1/2500 sec (Exposure set manually).
One from this summer as I have not been able to go out since then :(. I am just waiting for my vacation to begin in two weeks.

Inspiration for this photograph came after seeing Andy Nguyen photographs of Royal Tern's fishing action on birding magazine website. He has posted few photographs on this forum also (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=40080&highlight=nguyen). Unfortunately Foster's Tern are not as big as Royal Tern, they don't have big orange bill of the Royal Tern and they catch small fish so they don't make as stunning image as Royal Tern. But on the other hand all this factor also make them extremely difficult to photograph not to mention the speed involved. They plunge dive from 8-12 feet height, catch the fish and out of water in matter of seconds. You can't get better practice in panning and action photography than photographing Forster's Tern fishing action :). When I went to photograph the Tern's fishing action, I always found 2-3 experienced bird photographers in action trying to do the same thing. They told me that they have been trying this for last 2-3 years but they have not managed to get any in focus full frame image so far. So with my less than 100 hours of photography experience and being primarily a birder not photographer, I am happy with the result I got so far :). I will make it better next summer.

One of Andy's photo was highly commended by BBC this year. Big congratulations to him and other winning BPN members (Chris van Rooyen and Ajit Huilgol).


-Ashutosh

[Ashutosh Sinha]

To give you an idea of how fast the action is, here is the tern at the begining of the dive. Coming out of the water is uqually fast :).

[Clement Francis]

I love that splash, great action here

[Betsie Storm]

Ashutosh, Lovely action shot and thanks for the information. Great first try with this species, keep trying and looking forward to your next posts.

[Harshad Barve]

Lovely action well frozen here , water splash is fantactic , but bird is flying away from you
One image per thread should be fine , Please do not post two different images in single thread
TFS

[Harjeet Singh]

Nice action. Water splash, droplets and Catchlight say it all. I love the overall action. (w.r.t 100 hrs of work ex)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

So ???? It would have mattered if it was just a lame flight shot like hundred of tern flight shot you see in this forum. Since you have started visiting BPN how many tern fishing action shots have you seen? I have been visiting BPN on-and-off for almost two years and only image I have seen is Andy Nyugen's.

Take a look at this years BBC wildlife photo contest winner in bird behaviour category "http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/photo.do?photo=2471&category=2&group=1". In which direction the birds are flying? Look at the Ajit's winning photo. In which direction Leopard is walking? If Ajit has taken to heart everything you are told to do in Internet forums then he would have dismissed that photo as piece a crap and would have missed a golden opportunity.

Looks like you are blindly following whatever you learn in Internet forums. You are very busy making photo with subject parallel to sensor plane whereas Andy Rouse fly in to your home turf and walks away with winning images :-). If you haven't seen Andy Rouse two winning photo made at Ranthambore then please take a look at "http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do". Images you are talking about, subject square to the sensor plane, wins only junior awards, 10 years and under.




You can use your moderator privilege to delete the second photo if you promise that your name and not some tourists name will be there on the winning image of 2010 :). OK, I am being generous and giving you 1 more year and your name should be there by at least 2011 :). For God's sake it is your home turf, some tourist should not be walking away with the winning image.

Ashutosh, please keep your future posts civil and please take the time to read the guidelines, particularly #15: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/guidelines.aspx

[Doug Brown]

So ???? It would have mattered if it was just a lame flight shot like hundred of tern flight shot you see in this forum. Since you have started visiting BPN how many tern fishing action shots have you seen? I have been visiting BPN on-and-off for almost two years and only image I have seen is Andy Nyugen's.

Take a look at this years BBC wildlife photo contest winner in bird behaviour category "http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/photo.do?photo=2471&category=2&group=1". In which direction the birds are flying? Look at the Ajit's winning photo. In which direction Leopard is walking? If Ajit has taken to heart everything you are told to do in Internet forums then he would have dismissed that photo as piece a crap and would have missed a golden opportunity.

Looks like you are blindly following whatever you learn in Internet forums. You are very busy making photo with subject parallel to sensor plane whereas Andy Rouse fly in to your home turf and walks away with winning images :-). If you haven't seen Andy Rouse two winning photo made at Ranthambore then please take a look at "http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do". Images you are talking about, subject square to the sensor plane, wins only junior awards, 10 years and under.




You can use your moderator privilege to delete the second photo if you promise that your name and not some tourists name will be there on the winning image of 2010 :). OK, I am being generous and giving you 1 more year and your name should be there by at least 2011 :). For God's sake it is your home turf, some tourist should not be walking away with the winning image.

Hi Ashutosh. There is nothing wrong with breaking the photographic 'rules' regarding head angle. People who post here are free to take photographic chances, post their images, and see what kind of feedback they get. Group think about what makes a good bird image isn't always a good thing; I agree with you on that point.

But I take exception with the mocking tone of your response to Harshad. It was totally uncalled for.

[Fabs Forns]

I have deleted the insulting post.
We do not tolerate that behavior and will take measures if repeated.

[Ashutosh Sinha]

But I take exception with the mocking tone of your response to Harshad. It was totally uncalled for.




I have deleted the insulting post.
We do not tolerate that behavior and will take measures if repeated.



I am not mocking or insulting Harshad. Telling him that I want to see his name in the winners list next year is not exactly mocking or an insult. If I am mocking anything, it is the education that is being rammed in to peoples head in this forum. Are people getting any honest education here? I see a bit disconnect between what moderator's preach and what exactly they practice. If I look at your year 2007 Nature's Best Photography winning photo (http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/natures_best_2007/gallery/index.html), I don't exactly see the Egrets flying towards us. If you absolutely believe that subject should always be flying towards you and that's what you preach then why did you submit that photo for the contest? May be you are honest in your teaching and problem is Artie wannabe new comers. They spend few days on this forum and learn few tidbits from here and there and start preaching others without even having slightest clue what they are talking about. Whatever the problem, I personally don't find this forum very useful where an art form has been reduced to a codified set of rules and most of the critiques are mechanical robotic for which a software can be written.

Before becoming a member I used to just look at pictures here and did not use to read anything as I did not even own a camera and all the technical details would not have made any sense to me. After becoming member when I started reading the details my interest in this forum took a nose dive and I pretty much stopped participating. I don't know why I even bothered to come back after few months. I should have just let my membership expire and never re-new again.

If you want to take action against me please fell free to do so, cancel my membership, send me the membership fee. I will donate the money to the Audubon society in Artie's name and send the receipt to him. I would rather use the money for some just cause than support a forum that is probably not honest in it's teaching and stifles creativity.

[Ashutosh Sinha]

Ashutosh, please keep your future posts civil and please take the time to read the guidelines, particularly #15: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/guidelines.aspx


My post was civil. There was no profanity or angry words. I am just trying to open persons eyes and mind that has been shut by constant barrage of codified set of rules by Artie wannabes without having any clue what they are talking about.

[Fabs Forns]

Before becoming a member I used to just look at pictures here and did not use to read anything as I did not even own a camera and all the technical details would not have made any sense to me. After becoming member when I started reading the details my interest in this forum took a nose dive and I pretty much stopped participating. I don't know why I even bothered to come back after few months. I should have just let my membership expire and never re-new again.

If you want to take action against me please fell free to do so, cancel my membership, send me the membership fee. I will donate the money to the Audubon society in Artie's name and send the receipt to him. I would rather use the money for some just cause than support a forum that is probably not honest in it's teaching and stifles creativity.

Please contact me for a refund.