Splash!

[Adhika Lie]

From the same trip to Bolsa, this common tern(?) gets pretty close to my prefocused area.

D750 + Tamron 150-600 at 600mm. ISO 500, f/8, 1/3200. Processed on LR.

[arash_hazeghi]

This one has the dynamic element and light for sure so you are making progress! but this one falls too short on IQ to be keeper in my book. namely the heads is soft and grainy.

Adhika, my guess is the RAW was soft, unfortunately when the RAW is soft the image has no cure. critical focus was on the splash behind the tern

Better luck next time :)

[Randy Stout]

Adhika:

Everything except the focus. Were you focused on the spot the fish was thrown into the water at? (I am assuming it was baited because you mentioned you prefocused)

Randy

[Adhika Lie]

Thanks, Arash & Randy. The focus was slightly off, I think it got thrown off by the water splash.

Randy, no, it's not baited. My lens is rather sluggish and I need to prefocus to a general area to acquire focus for these birds. This one bird happened to land in that general area.

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Adhika

this image is not in sharp focus. Unfortunately you have to go back and try to get one that's sharper than this

Try to focus on the splash when the tern is submerged in the water, then as soon as the tern comes back up wait a second until it clears the splash and try to lock focus on it

[Daniel Cadieux]

Close, but as mentioned not quite there yet as far as sharpness goes. Excellent practice though, and you got really good action here and nice that the tern is angled towards you.

[Adhika Lie]

Thanks Arash & Dan!

Yeah, gotta back to the drawing board but thanks so much for the input, Arash. I am going to give it a try.

[Glennie Passier]

Adhika, this frame is full of action. I think you have the whites nailed here and the colour of the water is very nice.

You have some good advice above.

[Randy Stout]

Adhika:

Thanks for the explanation about the prefocusing. Terns certainly aren't the easiest guys to capture, with their fast dives and rapid take off. Lots of good advice given.

Does your lens have a focus limit range switch? If available, that can make a difference in focusing speed for fast subjects.

Cheers

Randy

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent comment by Randy, don't forget to use the limiter switch on your lens!