Arctic Tern on Driftwood

[Bill Dix]

Another bird in a snow flurry, from Langanes Peninsula in Iceland last May.

D500, Sigma 150-600C @ 600mm; ISO 1250, 1/2500s @ f/7.1 manual; HH

[Aditya Sridhar]

This is a very cool shot Bill! I absolutely love the snow. The bird is very sharp too although I might raise the blacks just a touch. The perch IMO is too large compared to the bird, but there's not a whole lot you could've done about that. I also like the red feet. Adds a great pop of color. Nicely done!

[gail bisson]

I quite like this.
I really like the snow.
I would lift the blacks on the head and crop to a tigher pano and get rid of some of the perch.
IQ on the tern is excellent. So sharp!
Gail

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Very nice Image. I like the background colors and snow.

Backs could be raised.

Red beak and the feet really adds to the image.

TFS

[Bill Dix]

Thanks for the comments. I anticipated that someone would want less driftwood, and you're probably right. Here's a more extreme pano. As to the exposure on the head, I had lifted it somewhat before posting the OP, and here I've lifted it some more. The problem I've found - not just with this image but with many of my Arctic Tern images in the flat light of a snowy, overcast day, or on a sunny day for that matter - is that there is simply no detail in the head. Lifting the exposure just turns the rich black into a flat gray. Let me know if this looks better.

[John Mack]

The snow shows up nicely with the even background. The driftwood makes for an interesting element here.