Mating dance of the Royal Tern, or should I label this TEN-HUT!!

[Warren Spreng]

OK, conditions were pretty bad for these shots but if you haven't seen Royal Terns do their ritual I wanted to post these for your enjoyment. The sun was directly overhead (awful lighting), the IQ is pretty poor, and they just suddenly started this while I was on a walk on the beach so I left my settings where they were. If anyone has any thoughts on what settings might have made this better should I get another chance (other than, shoot at a different time of day :) ) at catching a moment like this feel free to chime in! Canon 7D Mark II, Tamron 150-600mm, 428mm, HH, AF, 1/1600, ISO 800, f/13. Here are two positions, but they danced all around each other!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful terns, sharp image, lovely beach. Your image makes me want to head to the gulf. A couple things I would have done differently. I would have circled to the other side of the birds, that would put you on the bright side rather than the shadow side. You would have had to expose for the highlights paying attention to the blinking and histogram. I would prefer a crop that is not as tight. Thank you for sharing, Warren.

[Warren Spreng]

Beautiful terns, sharp image, lovely beach. Your image makes me want to head to the gulf. A couple things I would have done differently. I would have circled to the other side of the birds, that would put you on the bright side rather than the shadow side. You would have had to expose for the highlights paying attention to the blinking and histogram. I would prefer a crop that is not as tight. Thank you for sharing, Warren.

Great suggestion Joe! So much to think about when framing a shot! I followed them on the beach the next two days and no more displays. I did get some shots of a group taking wing but haven't had a chance to look at those yet. I was disappointed that I didn't see any Skimmers on this trip. I did however catch a Yellow Crowned Heron which I hope to work on in the next few days.

[Adhika Lie]

I photographed terns for the first time last week and hands down, they are one of the most beautiful sea birds. Your shots pretty much bring me to that time in Florida, Warren. I agree with Joe about circling to the other side, but you might miss the behavior. I really like the second shot. Maybe a square crop would work better on that one?

[Stuart Philpott]

Warren I grew up working beaches here in blighty down in the south west, spent hours watching the terns hunting. So for me personally a childhood(teen) memory revisited although not the same species just for starters. Under this light which actually the backlight on the rear bird's neck I quite like,I think you have done incredibly well I guess I like the second illustration of this behaviour best i think it's the symmetry that is capturing me . The shadows grab me too. I can't advise on settings at all but I'd have been thrilled just to see let alone capture this as well as you have.

Thanks for posting both. I too like the idea of the square crop on the second by Adhika,I feel there is a little too much sand up front and find the highlights of the breaking waves,up top, a tad distracting .

Lovely to view and again in such harsh light I think you did so well with a bird carrying so much white in the plumage

take care

Stu

[Warren Spreng]

Thanks Adhika and Stuart! I'll take a look at a square crop on the second, Stuart, are you thinking the foam at the top can stay but remove the brownish breaking wave above that? Watching them was just so comical and endearing as they strutted around each other.

[Glennie Passier]

Warren. I like both these very much, but the second one is my favourite. You are going to be torn with the crop. I personally would like to see more canvas on both sides, and as Stu has mentioned, maybe a bit of sand off the bottom. Yep. That brownish surf line should go. If this were mine, I would also remove the brighter spots in the water close to the birds, especially the ones on the LHS. I wish I could see their eyes a bit better. CCW rotation? Does one have a crook leg? It looks bigger than the others. I've picked a few nits here Warren, but take heart. I've just deleted about 100 shots of the same birds. Once apon a time I would have been happy with them. See how much we learn!

[Stuart Philpott]

Thanks Adhika and Stuart! I'll take a look at a square crop on the second, Stuart, are you thinking the foam at the top can stay but remove the brownish breaking wave above that? Watching them was just so comical and endearing as they strutted around each other.

Warren I feel the wave just above the birds heads should stay and the crop should be betwixt that and the base of the uppermost breaking wave,this is in image two Warren.

The first image I find much more tricky I would cut at the base of the brown wave,I feel one couldn't go lower, though, as the birds are getting dangerously close to edge of frame then.

Ahh buddy it must have been super to see: I'd have been completely caught up in the moment and made a complete hash of the pics I'm utterly hopeless in that way,but I'm on a mission to get so familiar with my camera that one day I might be able to get over myself,it'll be a long time coming though. That in part is why I admire these so much.

It's the big challenge being so quick in getting everything right when nature bungs these gifts at us,all credit Warren !!

take care

Stu

[Warren Spreng]

Warren. I like both these very much, but the second one is my favourite. You are going to be torn with the crop. I personally would like to see more canvas on both sides, and as Stu has mentioned, maybe a bit of sand off the bottom. Yep. That brownish surf line should go. If this were mine, I would also remove the brighter spots in the water close to the birds, especially the ones on the LHS. I wish I could see their eyes a bit better. CCW rotation? Does one have a crook leg? It looks bigger than the others. I've picked a few nits here Warren, but take heart. I've just deleted about 100 shots of the same birds. Once apon a time I would have been happy with them. See how much we learn!

Thanks Glennie, yeah, I think I need to decide my favorite crop and go with that. I see the spots you are talking about thanks for pointing those out. As to the eyes, they are very frustrating as trying to bring those out was impossible. I believe it is due to the light being directly overhead and it is as if these birds have a bit of a brow above their eyes and totally shadows them with the light coming from directly above. As to the crooked leg, no, it is like they are doing the type of marching you might see of the german army in old videos. They almost look like they are "goose stepping"! As to that one that looks thicker, I'm not sure what caused that.

[Warren Spreng]

Warren I feel the wave just above the birds heads should stay and the crop should be betwixt that and the base of the uppermost breaking wave,this is in image two Warren.

The first image I find much more tricky I would cut at the base of the brown wave,I feel one couldn't go lower, though, as the birds are getting dangerously close to edge of frame then.

Ahh buddy it must have been super to see: I'd have been completely caught up in the moment and made a complete hash of the pics I'm utterly hopeless in that way,but I'm on a mission to get so familiar with my camera that one day I might be able to get over myself,it'll be a long time coming though. That in part is why I admire these so much.

It's the big challenge being so quick in getting everything right when nature bungs these gifts at us,all credit Warren !!

take care

Stu

Thanks Stu, I think that brown wave needs to go, and maybe I can do some cloning so I'm not crowding the birds too much. Thanks again for the comments!

[Glennie Passier]

Ha Warren! Crook leg, not crooked. Crook - Aussie term for not well/bad. I like your idea of cloning out the top wave, rather than cropping. I understand about the dark eyes and heavy brows.

[Diane Miller]

I'm late to the party here-- great suggestions above and great action caught! Your settings look good to me. Maybe try to get lower, but that's easier said than done if the birds are moving along the beach.

The light is unusual, but so is the behavior, so you can be forgiven for capturing it!! Good luck finding them again!

[Warren Spreng]

Ha Warren! Crook leg, not crooked. Crook - Aussie term for not well/bad. I like your idea of cloning out the top wave, rather than cropping. I understand about the dark eyes and heavy brows.

Ahh, OK!

[Warren Spreng]

I'm late to the party here-- great suggestions above and great action caught! Your settings look good to me. Maybe try to get lower, but that's easier said than done if the birds are moving along the beach.

The light is unusual, but so is the behavior, so you can be forgiven for capturing it!! Good luck finding them again!

Thanks Diane! Whenever I am near the ocean I can't help but remember when my son was using his new video camera to record waves coming in and he didn't calculate correctly how far back he needed to be. Suffice it to say, one good wave came in and that was the end of that video camera! Good suggestion though! The behavior still makes me laugh thinking about it!

[Warren Spreng]

I finally figured out why the leg looks funny in the 2nd image, the bird is taking a step and what you are seeing is the webbed foot pointing forward so it looks like a thick leg.