Common Tern juvenile posing perfectly in late afternoon light...

[Arthur Morris]

This image was created on the afternoon of the private day (FRI pm and SAT am) that I spent at Nickerson Beach in late July with multiple IPT veteran Jake Levin. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/10. Daylight WB.
Center AF point (by necessity)/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The active AF point fell on the side of the bird’s upper back just above the dark mark on the folded wing. Clickhere to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. I was flat on the ground with the tripod legs splayed out fully.

LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5.

As for the image, don't be shy (or lazy). All honest comments are welcome.

You can learn a ton about d-o-f in the Killer Young Common Tern Image Helps With Understanding Depth of Field and Plane of Sharp Focus Issues at 1200mm blog post here.

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[Colin Driscoll]

Yes indeed, a great pose and top IQ. I'm of two minds about the green patch top left but suspect it detracts from the purity of the scene.
What is your pick- 5DS R or 1DX II? Edit: sorry, I realize that is a 'how long is a piece of string' question! 5fps vs 14fps for starters.

[Arthur Morris]

Yes indeed, a great pose and top IQ. I'm of two minds about the green patch top left but suspect it detracts from the purity of the scene.
What is your pick- 5DS R or 1DX II? Edit: sorry, I realize that is a 'how long is a piece of string' question! 5fps vs 14fps for starters.

Hi Colin, Many thanks. I love, love, love the suffused green as it balances the motif (a favorite word of the late, great Fritz Pölking) and because it adds a sense of place.

As to your 5DS R vs 1D Mark II question you (and everyone else here :) should subscribe to my blog and study it every day as I have been addressing the two bodies for several months. In short, I own two 5DS R bodies and use them most of the time for birds... In high ISO situations and sometimes for flight and action I turn to my single EOS-1D Mark II.

You might find this one of particular interest: Hard to Believe? 5DS R Strikes Back With 600II/1.4X III Skimmer Skimming Image... You can find it here.

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[Christian Muellner]

Hello Arthur,


I also find the green patch a bit distracting for this otherwise very clean image. It is a great pose and I really like the very low perspective. Would it had been possible to move a bit to the left to get rid of the green patch or where there other distractions?
The sun was a bit to your left shoulder, right?


PS: Please keep in mind that I am not a native English speaker and my critiques are not meant to be harsh in any way.


Christian

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Christian, Many thanks for stopping by and commenting. As I mentioned above, I love the green patch. I should have added that for me it balances the shadow on the shadow on our right. Also, I wrote as far back as the original The Art of Bird Photography, "add green whenever possible."

And yes, the sun was slightly from over my left shoulder. If I moved to my left to get right on sun angle, I would have been shooting up the bird's butt with the tail closer to me than its head...

I always appreciate honest critiques like yours. And your English is about 10,000,000 times better than my (non-existent) German :)

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[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the inclusion of the green vegetation. Lovely fresh individual with a good alert posture, and the front claws showing are pretty neat.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hmmmm, to spot or not spot. Beautiful bird, nicely shown. As you wrote a touch right of perfect light angle but not far off because the bird is evenly exposed and the shadow falls behind the bird. Lovely image Artie, thank you for sharing.

[Bill Dix]

A perfect pose indeed, parallel to the sensor with just the right HA (of course). And lovely light. I'd leave the green, but I'd be tempted to remove the halo. I might also have been tempted to do some eye doctor work to subtly separate the iris from the pupil. But a fine image no matter what.

[William Dickson]

Lovely pose, and lighting. Great details and I love the HA. I would take the green out, as personally I think it slightly distracts from the main subject. When I cover the green with my hand, I think the bird looks better

Will

[Arthur Morris]

A perfect pose indeed, parallel to the sensor with just the right HA (of course). And lovely light. I'd leave the green, but I'd be tempted to remove the halo. I might also have been tempted to do some eye doctor work to subtly separate the iris from the pupil. But a fine image no matter what.

Thanks Bill. Please explain which halo. The blue line along the breast is shadow... I did lighten the iris a bit but the terns have really dark eyes. The Eye Doctor work here would only be relevant on a large print.

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[Bill Dix]

Artie, On my monitor I'm seeing what appears to be a sharpening halo at the back of the head, and the top of the bill; both the contrast lines between dark subject and light background. A common occurrence. Do I recall correctly that you said you don't make a selection of the subject prior to sharpening jpegs for the web? It has been my (limited) experience that selecting the subject and feathering the selection prior to sharpening the final web-sized image can help to mitigate the halo. I'm pretty sure this has been discussed on this forum in the past, so I don't think I'm out on a limb.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Bill, I am not seeing much of a halo unless I tilt the screen. I do know how to selectively sharpen the subject only but simply do not want to waste that much time when creating a JPEG...

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[Glenn Conlan]

Very nice Artie, a would have removed the green automatically but is definitely adds dimension to the image and would make it seem flat without it. Thanks for tip