Elegant Tern

[David Salem]

Took this last night at a local beach estuary. This Tern had just dove and missed and still has some water spray around it.

1DMKIV---700mm---f6.3---ss1/4000---ISO640---HH@6:45pm---25% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your comments. Appreciated.

David

[Nigel Kibble]

I love the angle of the shot for me it really shows the grace this bird has in flight ,

[PhilCook]

Not often I've seen an image with the wings quite so vertical, really nice David and fits in the frame perfectly, love the spray and HA....some of the leading edges of the wing may...or may not be a little hot = my monitor possibly

[Grace Scalzo]

The saturated colors of this image made it pop off the screen. Super sharp shot....and an intensity to the tern that is captivating.

[David Salem]

Thanks for the comments everyone, appreciated.

Phil, the whites were right in the edge of being hot on the leading edge of the wing but I didnt burn them because I like that they help to define the thin wing profile against the BG. Thanks for your comment.

[Jamie Douglas]

Love the warm ight, wing postion, and head angle. Well worthy of being placed up there with similar work from Doug and Arash. Was this taken with them?

[vishaljadhav]

Interesting composition David, its great that the image has the 2 coloured BG makes it interesting to the eye
the bird is nicely captured, the eye looks lovely and i like the HA, truly unique way of presenting this vertical and it looks great.

[David Salem]

Thanks Jamie for the comment and the complement.
Although I had the pleasure of running into Doug, Arash and Jim at their west coast flight workshop, this wasnt taken with them but it was taken at the same spot they shoot at.
I live pretty close, so when I get done with work early, I run down there for some evening Tern and Skimmer action. This was taken a few nights ago.
Thanks again.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Funny Jamie said that because I thought the thumbnail was going to say Arash. Great incoming pose and at first wasn't sure about the two toned bg but on closer view I decided I like it!

[Jamie Douglas]

Thanks Jamie for the comment and the complement.
Although I had the pleasure of running into Doug, Arash and Jim at their west coast flight workshop, this wasnt taken with them but it was taken at the same spot they shoot at.
I live pretty close, so when I get done with work early, I run down there for some evening Tern and Skimmer action. This was taken a few nights ago.
Thanks again.

No worries David , it is worthy of the compliments it has received and not a bad place to have close to home .

[Loi Nguyen]

David, this is stunning with the V shape of the wing, head on shot, super sharp, perfect HA, and the two toned BG. I will have to check this spot out. Loi

[Girish Prahalad]

an elegant image! really like the V created by the wings.
excellent eye contact, comp & details.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, excellent HA captured here, and I like the 'V' formed by the wings. Nicely separated from the BG, and I do like that some droplets are visible.

[Markus Jais]

Fantastic wing shape. I like the head turn and the BG colors.

Markus

[Bill Dix]

Love the incoming pose, the colors, the raised wings; but it's the head turned almost parallel that makes it for me. Great techs and comp.

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent incoming pose and sharp details.

[yogesh_puranik]

Hey David excellent image. It is popping out of the screen. amazing impact. It's really very difficult to capture these birds in flight..superb compo..
will you don't mind sharing the location details?

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. Appreciated.

Yogesh, sent you a pm on the details of the location. Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington beach, California. The Terns and Skimmers are starting to leave now though. A few weeks of descent shooting left.