Hard to Get Enough Roseate Terns

This Roseate Tern was photographed on Great Gull Island with the hand held Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS II lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops off the grey sky: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Central Sensor/AI Servo Surround/Rear Focus active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, more spectacular version.

It was a privilege to be able to visit GGI. To see the original with the clipped wing and learn about the image optimization click here.

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

nice flight pose,sharp with good detail,nice soft lighting,good PS work.

Arthur its a lovely shot the way you presented it.
Im assuming one of the central focus points caught the tail as the bird exited to the right?
Some the best whites I ever saw!

Arthur Bhai,
This is a wonderful composition, looked at the original clipped version and i cant find a trace of reconstruction, great work
i love the whites here , the spread out tern with the dangling feet is what i like more
The highlight for me is seeing through the birds nostril ,means it was best executed
lovely to see your images Bhai

nice flight pose,very nice lighting & very good detail.

Thanks both. I use Surround. As you can see in the BreezeBrowser screen capture, "just barely caught the tail" is an understatement....

ps: even the best AF systems mystify me. Sometimes they seem to be tracking and the image is soft. At other times the active sensors are nowhere near the bird and the image is razor. Mostly it has to do with contrast and the lack thereof.... Or operator error....

Arthur

:eek3:

This is beautiful. You were able to get great detail out of your blacks. Obviously this was shot in overcast light, however, the grays don't appear to be all uniform in the BG which I feel adds to the image. What graceful poses terns can give you.

Very nice PS work.
Question: why would you not place the bird just a tad higher in the processed shot?

Love the pose, IQ, and PP work. Excellent picture.

Super exposure; love the fanned tail and dangling feet. Lovely shot as resurrected.

Great job rescuing this one Arty, exposure is spot on, lovely wing, tail & feet extension.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Troy Lim

Very nice PS work. Question: why would you not place the bird just a tad higher in the processed shot?

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Thanks. Lots of reasons:

#1: I like it better like this :)
#2: It seems that the bird is going up so the placement gives it room to do that.
#3: Moving the bird moves it away from the very strong rule of thirds position.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

Thanks. Lots of reasons:

#1: I like it better like this :)
#2: It seems that the bird is going up so the placement gives it room to do that.
#3: Moving the bird moves it away from the very strong rule of thirds position.

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Thank you. From the processed shot, it looks like the bird was actually heading lower, that was the initial reaction when I first saw the image.

Wowser,...heck of a flight pose, (minus the head angle, which could be better if the tern had looked back our way a bit, but flight pose obviously trumps head angle in your opinion on this one). Exposure is bang on. Sharp, and well composed. I have kindred thoughts regarding AF and appreciate your comments in pane #7.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Troy Lim

Thank you. From the processed shot, it looks like the bird was actually heading lower, that was the initial reaction when I first saw the image.

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I think that he went up and then down as he was turning to his right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shawn Zierman

Wowser,...heck of a flight pose, (minus the head angle, which could be better if the tern had looked back our way a bit, but flight pose obviously trumps head angle in your opinion on this one)..

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As I said on the blog :)

Sorry, don't always read your blog:eek3:

No sweat. That's why I provided the link :S3:.

wow - maybe the best shot I have seen of the species. Not an easy species to have opportunities with. very nice!