Forsters Tern

[BillTyler]

I love to watch these elegant birds as they soar over the water, hunting. Palo Alto Baylands. Nikon D300, 18-200 lens at 200mm, 1/250 f/5.6, ISO 200.

Bill

[joel quenneville]

Good job on your exposure here Bill, your whites and blacks are good. You have a good head angle and eye contact. I like the open wings and forked tail. Well done.

[Tony Whitehead]

Good exposure and pose, Bill. Maybe less room above and on right and more below to decentre the bird in the frame.

[BillTyler]

... Maybe less room above and on right and more below to decentre the bird in the frame.

Thanks for the suggestion. The computer I use for photo editing on has failed today, but I'll try this when it's healed. (It's probably a bad hard drive, but it's all backed up so it's an inconvenience, not a disaster.)

Incidentally, if you happen to be in the Palo Alto area, these birds are very accessible. There's a bridge that spans about 20 feet above a prime fishing spot, and the terns are there quite freqently. The height of the brige above the water puts you almost level with a hovering tern, and they come very close.

Bill

[Daniel Cadieux]

Centered-bird comp issue aside I like this image. I love the little leg tucked into the body. Don't be afraid to crank up the ISO when photographing BIFs...you're "keeper" rate will surely go up with the resulting higher shutter speeds ;-)