"Morning Exercise"

[Gus Cobos]

“Morning Exercise”

This perky little fellow was flying at a good clip near the inlet close to the fishing pier in Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota, Florida. He was painted with a Nikon D200, using a Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4D - IF-ED , with a Nikkor 1.7 T/C.

Image Solution:
focal length @ 510mm / exposure mode @ aperture priority / in camera matrix metering / 1/1,000sec. - f/11 / exposure comp @ +0.3EV / ISO @ 800 / white balance @ auto / AF - Mode @ AF - C / color space @ sRGB / lighting solution – ambient lighting / tone comp @ +1 degree / hue adjustment @ +1 degree / saturation factor @ +2 degrees / support platform – hand held /

Comments greatly appreciated...:cool:

[Anita Rakestraw]

Beautiful, Gus! Had to look hard to see anything at all to improve - just a bit of halo around some of the edges of the bird is all I can find!! Is this a type of tern?

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Some skimmer species I assume, framed well and you got the head turn just in time, nice one. Perfect wing position, might have opened more, but that's me Gus and you had the TC working against you - well done - sweet picture.

[Bill Dix]

Nice flight capture, Gus. Caught him just at the right moment before he got past you. Good range of tones in the underwing. Halo noted. The long lower mandible certainly makes this a Black Skimmer. What's interesting is that in all of my books the bill is shown and described as having a black tip, both in the adult and juvenile. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of these guys could explain the yellow tip seen here. Also the black cap normally extends down the back of the neck into the black back. Perhaps it does here but is not visible from this angle. In any event, great shot.

[Lance Peters]

Like it a lot Gus - Halo noted. Wing position is good as is flight position.
Super :)