Rather lousy shooting conditions as it was brightly cloudy (not bad) but this scene was completely back-lit.
As this was the first time a pair of Black Skimmers had nested on this beach successfully in decades (actually the farthest north breeding record in NA for quite some time), I thought it important to document this no matter what the conditions were. I had spent a lot of time with this pair the previous weeks and was thrilled to fins that they had hatched two chicks the night before. Unfortunately, they were predated the night after I created these images.
Image created as one of the two chicks crawled out from underneath mom when dad returned with a silverside.
Nikon D300, 500VR, TC14EII, ISO 800, F14, 1/640, CW Metering, NearUniWB, +1.7 EV, SB800 flash with BB at -1.0
PS...they were on a slight incline where they nested in the fore dunes and leveling it just didn't look right to my eyes.
Last edited by Jim Fenton; 10-23-2009 at 12:38 PM.
Jim, great job with the lighting conditions. The action you captured is very strong and I don't see any need for rotation. Hopefully next year we'll have even more trying to breed up our way. Congrats
Black Smimmer Feeding Newborn
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