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View Full Version : Rock Fairys (Fairy Terns)



Paul Randall
07-12-2011, 03:31 AM
Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis)
Western Treatment Plant, Werribee, VIC, Australia
24/6/2011

A quick morning visit to a regular Tern haunt had me sitting amongst Fairy and Crested Terns (along with a single Whiskered Tern which is a species I haven't seen for a while). You can't get much better than calm, clear weather with beautiful light and a very accepting group of birds. Crested Terns kept landing all around me and their presence put the smaller Terns at ease and allowed me quite a close approach.
Was tough to get the DOF right for these two but eventually found a good aperture and shutter speed and snapped away happily. Unfortunately the very small aperture also gave me a glimpse of how dirty my sensor was with almost a dozen tiny dust bunnies having to be removed from the image

All comments welcome Paul

Canon 5D 600mm f4 L (non IS) +1.4 TC iso 400 1/1000th f14 CW metering -2/3 tripod mounted
Photoshop- slight sharpen of features, dust spots removed, secondary reflected catchlights removed

Sidharth Kodikal
07-12-2011, 12:17 PM
Nice light and poses. Great job with the DOF. Like the low angle and the comp as well.
Perhaps it's the soft light, but it looks like it could take some more sharpening.
TFS.

Daniel Cadieux
07-12-2011, 12:53 PM
Good job with this Paul. You experimented with settings and found the one that worked best...great way to work the scene when you know you have time to do so. I find the comp a bit tight, but an overall very good image...well done!

Wynand van Wyk
07-12-2011, 01:00 PM
A really lovely portrait captured here! Ditto on a little more sharpening. Love the exposure!

Conditions well handled, very well done!:S3: