Terns at Brigantine

[Randall Farhy]

Spent about 1.5 hours trying to capture a scenic with multiple birds and those flowering shrubs, ended up with mostly clipped wings and or horribly out of focus Terns. Happy with the composition, being an overcast day the light was rather flat so contrast is down. Might try this one again with a boost to BG saturation and contrast. 29% crop (71% of the frame intact) mostly to reduce the sky area and tighten edges.

Camera: 7D
Lens 400mm F5.6L

ISO 640 SS1/2500 F5.6
Handheld

Manual Mode
Metering Evaluative

Processing: Lightroom4 for Raw conversion, processing and crop, Noise Reduction: Topaz Denoise5
Very minor CW rotation (.30) Slight levels adjustment, detail sharpening/ brush work on the main bird (eye/ feathers/bill).

Thoughts/ comments welcome and appreciated.

[Clyde Hopper]

Hi Randall , I'm finding my self a bit "Out of my league " In that I'm not finding much wrong with most photos posted on this site in general , but that is a good thing as I am here to learn . That said , my only crit is as you already have mentioned the Bg . my eye goes to the bright spots in the frame . Love the rest of the photograph .

[Colin Gilyeat]

Randall, nice image of the tern. I'm fairly new at critiquing photos, but I like the postiion of the tern and detail of the eye and the foreground wing, but the back wing looks a little out of fucus, maybe due to the DOF? The only other thing I see is that the OOF bird in the background is a little distracting.

Can I assume that Brigantine is in NJ? If so, I'll be in Atlantic City the weekend of Oct 27th and am planning on some time at Forsyth NWR and other areas.

Colin

[Randall Farhy]

Clyde- I'm out of my league here as well, there are some amazing photographers visitng this site. Listening to how they, and others critique their work is quite a learning experience. I honestly believe we will learn the craft faster because of it as long as we keep shooting and applying what we read. With this one, I was so intent on multiple birds that I overlooked the op for a single with the shrubbery. Perhaps next time.

Colin-Thanks. DoF, angle and motion blur all play a part on the rear wing. Originally I was thrilled to have both birds in the frame in a balanced composition, but after hearing both of these replies-I see how the 2nd bird is a bit distracting. Wondering if giving the frame more room would allow the elements to work better as a scene.

Brigantine is in NJ, very near AC, literally across the bay from where this shot was taken (behind me). This time of year sees quite a variety of birds, Egret, Cormorant, Heron, Tern, Osprey, Ducks and shorebirds being the most common. Harriers and Owls can be found too, but usually a very long lens is needed to fill the frame. I hope you get a chance to visit the area-if you do so very early in the morning, head for the Eastern/ Northeastern shore for the best morning light ops. Enjoy your stay in AC!

http://www.stateparks.com/brigantine...ew_jersey.html

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Randall, while there is a lot to like in this image there are also challenges. I like your BIF technique here and the placement of the bird in the frame. Exposure is good with nice control of the whites. The most obvious challenge is with the second bird in the bg, I would thank and excuse that one... One of the biggest obstacles to getting a great tern image is the dark eye. In this image there is no detail in the eye at all. If it is present in your RAW file you need to bring it out by lightening. If it is not present then your sun angle caused it to be in shadow. Another visual distraction to note is the horizon line intersecting the bird. Keep the images coming!
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[Bob Miller]

Hi Randall...You did well capturing this tern. I know how hard and frustrating it can be....I am still trying to capture one diving into the water! Your techs look good but the oof bird is distracting...it is too much oof. The bg seems to me to be too busy esp with the blurred highlights. keep shooting!