Least Tern in Heaven (for Grace)

[Fabs Forns]

Captured the las time I was there :)
Flat on the ground, on the surf slope, lower than the bird, letting the sand cover most of the image. At least he looks proportioned now :) which he doesn't if you see the whole body standing.
Marco Island, longest walk of my life.
I know Grace likes this technique, so this is for her.

Model: Canon EOS 7D
Lens (mm): 275
ISO: 400
Aperture: 7.1
Shutter: 1/3200

Comments appreciated.

[Mike Lentz]

Fantastic image, Fabs! You have a dreamy quality to this image thats for sure.
I have to ask (sorry) but did you add any of the foggy look with NIK or Tiffen software or was this all as it was out of camera? Either way, I love it!

[Grace Scalzo]

I DO like this technique, Fabs. So dreamy and beautiful!! The fact that you can see through the sand to his (her?) tail and the edge of the sand are fine additional elements. Thanks !! You are such an inspiration.

[Fabs Forns]

I have to ask (sorry) but did you add any of the foggy look with NIK or Tiffen software or was this all as it was out of camera? Either way, I love it!

No filters. I did darken the blacks and bill in the face to cut through the OOF sand.

Thanks guys, glad you like it.
I have more from that day, playing around and taking pics half blind because of the heat and perspiration. Working more on cruise control...

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Fabs, liked the treatment a lot. very creative..but confused about the clipped wing. to maintain balance? to put the focus on the face?

[stuart wanuck]

great image fabs but how does your back feel?

[Fabs Forns]

Fabs, liked the treatment a lot. very creative..but confused about the clipped wing. to maintain balance? to put the focus on the face?

KD, I just missed the wingtip and cropped some more. Wing not really that important to me in this case, guess it could be cropped further, but I'm happy as it is.
Thanks!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Thx. I thought you clipped it this way in camera with some purpose that I am unable to grasp :-)

[Fabs Forns]

great image fabs but how does your back feel?

Hahahaha, I know, not a pleasant position :)

[arash_hazeghi]

like the dreamy look Fabs, nice low angle.

[John Ippolito]

Stunning, dreamy effect, and I love the comp. So the lens was partially obscurred by the white sand creating the "fog"? Excellent image Fabs!

[Lana Hays]

Fabs
Creamy, dreamy.....and definitely true heaven. I just love these images.

[Bert De Tilly]

WOW, great shot,I like the shot taked at ground level

[Troy Lim]

It is worth it for the walk when you get shots like this.
Great idea on using the sand.

[Harold Davis]

that's awesome! like a sandstorm!! i like the work you did darkening the bill and blacks. perfect touch with the amounts! lance p would like this too!!!

[Jim Fenton]

This one I love.

Nuff said.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Hey Fabs , do you ever make a bad image?;) Love the "feel" this one creates.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Loved the painting like feel here... great angle here...

[Danny Laredo]

Love the dreamy effect here. Too bad about the wing but I like the overall feeling I get from this image.

[Sid Garige]

Great job in creating dreamy effect Fabs. Reminds me of your red fox in snow image. Great head angle and exposure. Excellent job.

[Fabs Forns]

Love the dreamy effect here. Too bad about the wing but I like the overall feeling I get from this image.

In fact, the whole wing would place him too far right into the image. This is not meant to be an ID picture, but a moody one. Wing is unmaterial IMO.

Thanks everyone!

[Stu Bowie]

Fabs, I really like how the Tern blends into the surrounding BG. Fantastic feel to the overall image, and getting down and dirty sure has paid off. Congrats.

[Juan Aragonés]

One of your best images Fabs, or at least, it is one of my favourites. I love almost EVERYTHING on this one (the only thing I really doesn´t like is that my signature is not on the lower right corner :D).
The clipping of the wingtip really doesn´t mind and I think that it was a very good idea to crop a bit the wing tip.
Tremenda, tremenda!!

[Harshad Barve]

Mighty fine image Fabs ,
TFS