Young Least Tern

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk IV, 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4x II, 1/2500, f/8, ISO 400
Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley
About 75% of Full Frame

Photographed yesterday morning on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

This young Least Term seemed to be learning the difference between seaweed and a worm. He tugged at it for quite a while before finally moving on.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques!

[gail bisson]

Mike, this is lovely. Love the interesting activity the bird is engaged in. The Bg blues are very nice and make the bird pop. The whites are exposed perfectly. A keeper for sure,
Gail

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Mike, you are having a great time on the beach. I wish I lived close to one.

the Low angle makes all the difference. superb feather details and water texture. bird parallel, excellent light, HA. Good choice of crop...not clipping the weed much. Very well done.

[Keith Carver]

Mike, a beautifully framed bird in a nice low-angle pleasant BG shot, and with food item to boot! The Skimmer ground pod/Wimberley is perfect for this situation. Congrats!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Low angle makes this one along with a beautiful comp. and exposure.

[Matthew Studebaker]

beautiful low angle, interesting action taking place, good exposure control

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice behaviour, and the whites pop right off the monitor! Sharp, well exposed, and great low angle. I may crop a bit off the top, and there is what looks like a large sensor dust spot above the tern's rump...

[Mike Milicia]

Thanks for all of the comments and feedback!

Daniel, I saw what you are referring to but whatever it is, it is natural and not a dust spot.
I can tell because it changes location on the various RAW files from this section of the beach.
I don't know what caused this effect.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good, that is good news for your sensor!:S3: I'd still remove it on the finished image though if it were mine.

[christopher galeski]

very nice Mike,nice low angle,nice colors and lighting,well done and thanks.

[Grace Scalzo]

Totally sweet image of this youngster. Soft lighting for the delicate youngster, perfect. Love how the light reflecting up from the water adds a dimension and keeps the bird from looking flat. Behavior adds a touch of whimsy. Even if that spot is natural, I'd remove it, not to sterilize the image from natural elements, but because this does not look natural. I personally like clean edges and if you've got it, I'd add just a bit to the left so the seaweed clump does not touch. (Again, my own preference).

[Mike Milicia]

Thanks again to all for their comments and suggestions!

Grace and Dan, agree the spot is a distraction and unnatural looking.

Grace, agree a clean left edge would be better. I've got a bit more room on the left but, unfortunately, it's just more seaweed. There's no way to get a clean left edge without cloning out some seaweed.

[Wynand van Wyk]

Super portrait captured! Agree on that low angle adding a lot. Love the detail and very well exposed! I like it.

Very well done!:S3:

[Ofer Levy]

This is sweet! If anything maybe a bit off the top.