Finding expanses of sand which are really clean isn't always easy but I located this spot with an incoming tide and parked my butt there for an hour waiting and watching. The terns were already present along the waters edge and as the tide advanced, they slowly moved toward me. Luckily, while most of the breeding was taking place in the advancing rack line, this pair strutted right into my clear spot. He presented her with a sand eel, they danced and strutted for a few moments and then it was time.
While the lighting is coming from the right it's not too bad and I liked this particular image because of the head position and eye contact with the female, the wing spread of the male and the fanned tail on the female as well.
There were a few minor bits of white shell which I cloned out.
Nikon D300s, 600VR, TC14EII, ISO 800, f 7.1, 1/1600, sharpening OFF in camera, contrast set to low, NearUniWB, CW Metering, +1.0 EV applied.
05-24-2010, 03:24 PM
Kaustubh Deshpande
Jim, really liked this one. Agree that the eye contact with the female makes this work. Thumbs up on the exposure.
05-24-2010, 03:34 PM
stuart wanuck
love it love it but is not an eagle
05-24-2010, 03:37 PM
Jim Fenton
I'm on my way to go work on eagles in a few moments Stuart :)
05-24-2010, 03:45 PM
Karl Egressy
Nice picture, Jim. Like the soft light and the eye contact with the female.
05-24-2010, 03:59 PM
Steve Maxson
Nice action captured, Jim. I like the soft light and the gray-on-gray look. Good sharpness and the low angle and shallow DOF work well here.
05-24-2010, 05:50 PM
Ákos Lumnitzer
Good work Jim. Nicely framed and I just love the moment. Your patience paid off! :)
05-24-2010, 09:21 PM
Ilija Dukovski
Great capture, the spread wings are excellent but the head turns on both birds make great composition.
05-25-2010, 06:52 AM
Arthur Morris
Love the clean sand, the narrow d-o-f, and both tails. Hard to tell which tail belongs to which bird.... For me, the tails (with the non-blocking wing position of the male) make the image.
05-25-2010, 08:02 AM
Ignacio Yufera
So sweet, I really like the bills and legs adding a touch of red to the otherwise monochrome scene.
05-25-2010, 08:40 AM
Jim Fenton
Agree fully Artie..
Without the tail splay, this would have gone in the recycle bin :)