entwined

[John Chardine]

These newly arrived Common Terns are spending a lot of time courting. Eggs will follow shortly. You can see some reflection from the orange legs and the green-topped pilon on the underside of the plumage.

I cropped and dodged/burned in the BG to even out a little. Ran some NG on the BG (Noise Ninja) and standard sharpening applied at the end.

Date: 19 May, 2010, Time: 13:58h
Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS USM @ 500 mm
Program: Aperture Priority
ISO 400, 1/1000s, f/8
Exp. comp.: +0.7
Flash: no flash, Flash exp. comp.:

[Jim Fenton]

Love the soft light and excellent exposure.

The outstretched wings filling the expanse of the frame is perfect. Eye contact with both birds is great.

The refelction on the undsiides doesn't bother me at all and if the piling were really tilted, I'm liking the fact that you left it that way :)

I get the feeling that many here think that wild birds sit on nothing other than perefctly straight / natural perches.

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderful poses, perfect EXP, nice light. Great details in the blacks and the eyes. Too tight, and a big time bummer on the piling...

[John Chardine]

Thanks Jim and Artie.

Quick question about "tightness"- in this case the image is "all wings" and if you can blank them out for a moment the bulk of the two birds seems to have lots of room. An analogous situation occurs say with flying albatrosses, which are again "all wings" or with flamingoes which are "all legs", and if you gave the normal amount of room to the wings or legs, it is hard to show detail in the face for example. So in these cases is it OK or not to compose tight around extremities like wings and legs?

[Joe Senzatimore]

Sweet soft light and great interaction. A bit more room would be nice. The perch is what it is and beyond your control.:(

[Arthur Morris]

Hi John, There are several issues here. For me, the birds seem stuffed in the frame. I was not looking for an expanse to be added around the birds, just for a bit more room. Let's call the distance from the wing-tip to the left frame-edge one unit. Here's what I would consider ideal framing for this one:

Add to the left: 1/2 unit
Add to the top: 1/2 unit
Add to the right 1/4 unit
Add to the bottom: enough to include the end of the slant of the piling plus an additional 1/2 unit: "if an object is worth including in the frame, it is vital to include all of it plus a small border" (the object here being the top of the slanted top of the piling). This rule applies no matter how un-natural the object :)

[John Chardine]

Thanks Joe and Artie. That's just what I needed Artie! I'm going to play around with the image and see if I can achieve this framing.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

wow this is just beautiful John for all the above mentioned reasons. Love the lighting, interaction and perfect exposure. Very artistic feel to this image and one I would love to paint !!! Gorgeous and thanks for sharing.

[Katie Rupp]

Hi John, I love the light, the out-stretched wings and the composition...and Artie's very specific guideline for giving it a bit more room is very helpful. It would make a beautiful painting.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Joe and Artie. That's just what I needed Artie! I'm going to play around with the image and see if I can achieve this framing.

Do you have the stuff below that you need?

[John Chardine]

I do Artie. I have to admit that in one of the earlier crops I did include the complete top of the pilon and you are absolutely right that I should have included it in the post. I guess I thought less of a bad thing was OK!

The image was made at a colony I work on near a marina at Shediac, New Brunswick. The pilons have been sunk into the substrate on this old abandoned barge on which the birds are nesting. They are the highest points in the colony so naturally they like to use them.

[Kiran Poonacha]

great whites and really loved the setting..

[Arthur Morris]

"Less of a bad thing" thinking often leads to compositional errors.....