Royal Tern

[David Salem]

I have Been going to a beach estuary for the last few months chasing Terns and shorebirds. Los of fun and frustration. Also a serious workout shooting hundreds of frames per outing.

This Tern had already caught the sardine at sea, as the royals dont hunt in the tidal estuaries like the Caspian, Elegante and the Forsters do. They fly back with a fish and then find there mate and do a beautiful wings up, side by side arial display.

This sequence was cool because the camera locked on well and I got 5-6 nice frames with all different wing positions and a different BG.

Thanks again for looking and for all you input.

David


1DMKIV 500mm ss1/2500 f5.6 ISO400 HH @6:35pm

[gail bisson]

Good shot David.
If I had a wish it would be that the fish was turned the other way.
IQ is great and nice clean water BG. Tack sharp.Whites look great.
I would love the see the next frame with the wings fully extended downward,
Gail

[Joe Senzatimore]

Valid points made , but still a real fine capture. Great details in this.

[Grace Scalzo]

Difficult birds indeed as they are so fast. Love the falling scales. Let's see more.

[Satish Ranadive]

David,
Excellent flight pose captured.Fish pops against nice wing color and Tern against beautiful background..

Regards,
Satish.

[Sachin Saraf]

David, Terns are difficult to photograph in flight and you have nice flight angle, exposure, sharpness and details here...IQ looks good and I too would love to see frame in which the wings are fully down.

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely capture with good IQ. I like the wing position as is b/c the far wing gives a nice backdrop to the bird's head with catch. What a nice touch to see the red on the fish. I might consider a tad off of the top to give it more of a rectangular crop as opposed to a more square crop.

[Yves Guillot]

Everything has been said! Very well done and great catch ...for both of you! Congrats!

[laurie golden]

I don't think it gets any better than this. I love it just the way it is.

[David Salem]

Thanks very much Gail , Joe , and everyone for the complements and & the comments. I will send more . Glad you liked it.

Marina, I did have it cropped as a rectangle but thought it might look crowded. I re-posted it that way to see what you guys think.

Thanks again for the help and constructive Crits.

David

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot. Exposed very well, great flight pose, and I really like the fish in it's beak.
Well done.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose details and a nice BG. the fish is a big bonus

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, excellent flight pose with the down stroke of both wings. Well exposed, sharp, and always good to see a catch. Your repost has worked out well with taking some off the top.

[David Salem]

Thank you Arash & Stuart for the input. Much appreciated.

David