Royal Tern, upclose and personal

[Dan Brown]

Shot on the beach in Melbourne FL. on my belly with a handheld Nikon D200, 80-400VR, No crop, PP'ed in CS3, noise reduced with Noise Ninja, sharpened with Nik Sharpener Pro.

Shutter speed: 1/4000 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +2/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Spot
ISO: 400
Lens: 80 to 400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Focal length: 600mm (in 35mm film)
Image size: 3872 x 2592
White balance: Auto

[Robert O'Toole]

Hi Dan,
Nice and sharp with very dramatic lighting and the standing crest is nice.

I wish the lighting was not so dramatic, dark, so we could see more details. Nice otherwise.

Robert

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the pose and crop idea and would have stopped down more for wider DOF. I might give it a tad more room at the top.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Really good, intimate portrait. If I wanted to be picky, I find the soft, ghosting around the crest and to the left of the head a bit distracting. Otherwise you have a mighty fine image here. :)

[Doug Brown]

Hi Dan. I agree with Axel's suggestion about stopping down. Like the raised crest, sharp eye, and bill. I would also like to see more room up top. Have fun in Florida; say hi to Jim for me.

[Grace Scalzo]

I just wrote out a critique, hit a button and lost it. Here it goes again...

I really like the warmth of this image, the beautiful colors, and the restful feeling. I've come back and looked at this several times since you posted it, so that should tell you that it grabbed my attention. To me, the crop feels a bit awkward, and since it's tight already, I might try making it even tighter by cropping off the left side (as viewed), and then trim from the bottom as you see fit. That, to me, puts the eye in a more natural position in the frame. Bottom line is, I find this to be a very appealing image and I thank you for sharing it.

[Ramon M. Casares]

It could use more room, but the tight crop also gives the feeling of intimicy. Love the light, moment, detail and exposure! Congratualitons!