Juvenile Common Tern Portrait, Long Island

Canon 1D Mark IV
500mm
Gitzo tripod in water, spread low

f/8.0
1/2500 sec
ISO 500
Manual Mode

I photographed this young tern a few days ago on a Long Island beach, where I had a great time shooting with Grace Scalzo, Gail Bisson, and Emily Norman. This is a straightforward portrait that I liked for the background, the pose, the light, and that shadow. I cloned out an out of focus bird in background, toned down the whites a bit on the neck, and sharpened. Oh and also cropped off a strip on the bottom that I didn't like as it was out of focus.
Thank you for looking. All comments and critiques much appreciated.

Hi Melissa, love the soft light, and the slightly angled pose of the Tern. Exposure and sharpness spot on, and I like the coloured layers in the BG. The curves in the shadow add an extra dimension to the overall image.

No doubt, you bunch had fun together. :w3

love the low angle, light and details

Nicely done Melissa.

Beautiful image Melissa, sweet light, pose and details. Well done.
Sanjeev

beautiful image Melissa,low nice exposure,great BG,and I like the mussel in the sand.

The little fella looks good, and I like the inclusion of the full shadow. The clean sand looks great and yes the submerged mussel is a neat touch. I do feel there is a tad much space above...perhaps cropping out the top-most layer would work. Sounds like you gals had a fun and productive time!!

Melissa! This is beautiful. That is some of the sweetest light and I absolutely love the low angle and that shadow. That shadow takes this image to a different place IMO. I'm glad you left the single (muscle?) on the beach as well.

Gorgeous light on this one, right down to it capturing the glitter in the sand and catching the light on the lone Mussel shell. The layered backdrop is rather nice although I think cropping a bit more off the top would improve

Thanks a lot for the feedback, everyone. I'll try cropping some from the top.

beautifully done. love the comp, details, exp & the multi-hued BG.

Nicely layered BG, Melissa. I especially like the shadow on the dark Sand. Fine job.

I couldn't help but to replace the word "shooting" with "shopping" (with your friends) hahahaha