Rosy-ate Tern :)

This image of a displaying Roseate Tern was created at 4:46pm on June 3, 2013 on a hazy bright Great Gull Island afternoon with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 800. Evaluative metering off the bright grey sky +1 2/3 stops: 1/1600 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode.

Two sensors to the right (yes to the right–see the original capture in the blog post here) of the central sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus on right hand bird’s upper back active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

If you like Billy Joel, and/or to learn the complete story of this image, see yesterday's blog post, And every time I've held a rose It seems I only felt the thorns... You will learn in part that the rosy breast of this species in breeding plumage is best seen in soft light.

Short story: I moved the bird from the left side of the frame to the right side of the frame using techiniques from APTATS II.

As for the image, don't be shy: all comments welcome.

Nicely done with exposure showing detail in the black head and eye, I rather like his/her swanky posture and the perky erect tail, nice natural perch as well.

Another Beauty.
You certainly had some very nice soft light!
The eye shows well here.
Having never seen one, not a lot of feather detail, are they this smooth?

Dank: not sure how to answer that as this is how my WHITEs usually look in soft hazy light.... Additionally, I never concern myself at all with fine feather detail. Why not? I don't see such good!

Arthur, not a critical comment, more a question.
The lack of detail doesn't matter to me at all.
A very attractive photo. I was just wondering, if like species like Waxwings, they just
Do not have detail?

I don't wish harrm to any tern, but I would like to see a dead one some time and really examine their plumage. They all look like this, smooth and with little detail. As for the image, it's sublime. Really shows off the character of this beauty.

Good looking shot with clear detail and nice exposure. Great that you got a catch in the eye to give it life. Easy to wind up with the eye lost in the black cap. I like the raised tail too. Very Nice..

This is the best image of this species I've seen in some time. Awesome pose. Nice soft airy light quality.
I dig the transition/fade on the lower left side of the perch. Plenty of quality aspects here...

Simplicity, perfected...

Brilliant, Sir Arthur! This is one great example of "less is more"...

Kind regards,

Thanks Gabriela. I agree that less is often more :)

And thanks to the rest for their kind words and comments.

Wonderful shot.
Very nice light, terrific comp, great pose, and very well exposed.
Very well done.

Another heavenly, artistic Roseate image. That soft muted light is just absolutely perfect for these guys. I photographed a pair in MA last spring, and found that that rosy area hard to capture, but your skill and the light have brought that out beautifully here. Love the pose and comp.
PS This is the kind of image of yours that got me started in bird photography...

Simply stunning Arthur,
Cheers, Greg