Little Tern by chance

[phil adair]

I went out to see how my 5d2 w/Sigma123-300 + 1.4tc worked. It was really windy and there wasn't that much going on but I did manage to catch this little guy, I bumped up the ISO and went with a higher shutter speed.

Camera Model	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Firmware	Firmware Version 2.0.4
Shooting Date/Time	05/09/10 15:54:51
Shooting Mode	Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed )	1/1000
Av( Aperture Value )	8.0
Metering Mode	Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation	0
ISO Speed	200
Auto ISO Speed	OFF
Lens	120-300mm
Focal Length	420.0mm
Image Size	5616x3744
Image Quality	RAW
Flash	Off
FE lock	OFF
White Balance Mode	Auto
AF Mode	AI Servo AF
Picture Style	User Defined 1(Neutral)
Sharpness	3
Contrast	-1
Saturation	1
Color tone	0
Color Space	sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction	0:Off
High ISO speed noise reduction	0:Standard
Highlight tone priority	0:Disable
Auto Lighting Optimizer	0:Standard
Peripheral illumination correction	Disable
File Size	23019KB
Dust Delete Data	No
Drive Mode	Continuous shooting
Live View Shooting	OFF
AF Microadjustment	0
Date/Time(UTC)

[Lance Peters]

Hi Phil - Can go higher - need that shutter speed up around 1/2500th for best results with BIF - IMHO!!
Light angle is a little off resulting in half your subject being in shadow - like the head being evenly lit.
Looks a little soft on my screen - large crop??

Would consider cropping a little differently so the bird was not so centered in the frame and giving a little more space up front for him to fly into.
Keep em coming :)

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Getting tern in flight is not easy, good job getting one. The bird flying toward you which is really nice, I also like the catch light in the eye which help bringing out the eye from the dark feather around it. As Lance mentioned, the sun position caused shadow on the bird, having the sun behind will help with this. Also agree with moving the bird off center.

[arash_hazeghi]

The first rule of thumb in getting good tern flight shots is attention to light, it is very hard to make appealing photographers of terns in harsh overhead light like this, shadows will look harsh on the white body. You did a good job focusing on the head hope you can get one in better light :)

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Phil Put together the advice given and you will come up with great flight images !!!

If possible do go to 1/2500 and with your camera is easy since the ISO performance is so good, just has a slow firing rate. btw its af accuracy is excellent, don't let anyone tell you it isn't !!!

The sun angle is a big deal but you must combine with wind direction, only mother nature can help there. You go out in the afternoon to shoot bif with a strong east wing and the results will be poor !! Need the sun and wind at your back .... the the last is getting the bird large in frame with a good wing position !!!! Looking forward to the next one !!

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Phil Put together the advice given and you will come up with great flight images !!!

If possible do go to 1/2500 and with your camera is easy since the ISO performance is so good, just has a slow firing rate. btw its af accuracy is excellent, don't let anyone tell you it isn't !!!

T!!

Ditto, just see what flight shots I am getting with this camera :D
If you haven't already also turn on the AF are expansion, turns on 6 invisible AF points around the center and works excellent!