Dancing Tern!

I was out earlier this evening and found these Forster's Terns continuing to plunge for fish even with sun almost below the horizon... I wanted to get their wing movement as they hover over the water. After few tries I managed to get one that I liked. My settings were 1/15 sec @ f/20. For processing, used topaz denoise on the bg, selective colors and saturation. Does this work?

Indranil, very dreamy image....very nicely captured and composed. A nice blur...TFS

I had some time tonite so I played a bit and removed the vertical blured wings via cloning, just so I could see what it would look like. I cropped the tern (just to post here) but I like the original the way it is

Nice blur Indranil. Love the blurred wing effect on the OP. Wonderful sense of flight. Well done.

Indranil, I too like the blurred wings and the soft color palette. Maybe a tiny bit more contrast? Very nice blur.:S3:

Nice image and application, Indranil.

Interesting wing capture. :w3

Thanks all. I appreciate it... here is a repost with a bit more contrast Denise suggested...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paul Lagasi

Indranil, very dreamy image....very nicely captured and composed. A nice blur...TFS

I had some time tonite so I played a bit and removed the vertical blured wings via cloning, just so I could see what it would look like. I cropped the tern (just to post here) but I like the original the way it is

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Hi Paul, Thanks. The repost looks really nice. I did get those wing positions. It was more challenging to get this flapping wing position.

Hey Indranil,
I absolutely love the wing positions and blurs.....not as easy as it appears to get correct ones so you chose the perfect SS! To me the sky looks almost muddy. Not sure if lightening or playing with the cyan or blue will do the trick......but I do think it is worth the effort as minor tweaks will make this shine!

Hey, Indranil, I love the blur and the composition. I agree that the bg looks a little bland but to me it looks like it was taken close to dark. Maybe a slight warming filter or Nik filter would change it a little.

Hi Indranil, the amount of blur here is wonderful. Love the wing positions. I agree with Roman that lightening the sky may help. It appears a little dark to me also. Great capture!

Nice action capture and blur Indranil! Your repost looks better and I am very familiar with that west coast sky. :c3:

Wow, amazing in flight blur! I love the action on the wings, great light as well!

Thanks all, I appreciate it... that is the sky color in the evening just as Kerry pointed out. Here is a repost with adjusted selective colors...