Common Tern preening

[denise ippolito]

Canon 1D Mark III
500 mm lens
1/1250 sec. at f/5
ISO 500
Manual mode
Tripod
cropped and sm amount of beach debris cleaned up

Nickerson

[Dan Busby]

Beautiful Denise. You captured this graceful bird in a graceful moment. Very nice exposure with great detail. I love the casual look from the bird's eye. I find the UL background a bit splotchy and distracting - but minor.

[Michael Zajac]

Good eye contact and exposure.I love the pose here and the sharpness well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

Great detail, light and POV Denise. The curl of the feather just puts the icing on the cake for me.

TFS
Steve ;)

[Stu Bowie]

Denise, super low perspective, well exposed, and tack sharp. Of course the curled feather puts this up a notch. An opportunity well used.

[Grace Scalzo]

Graceful pose and colorful, too. I always like when a bird preens in front of you, shows a level of trust and relaxation.

[denise ippolito]

Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate you all taking the time. I really liked the curled up feathers too.
Dan, The BG doesn't bother me-it seems natural to me but I do agree some people like a smoother look.
Grace, I love to watch birds preen. I feel like it is an intimate moment that I am allowed to share.

[Arno Ellmer]

Such a delicate moment captured ! Not much more to add than above,other than I would have preferred a smoother bg. Still ,superb !

[Scott Frye]

Great shot - I like the low action and great detail in the whites -- nice catchlight to highlight the black eye coming from the black head and the background complements the bird well

[arash_hazeghi]

nice Denise, love the tail feathers and the details, well done

[Bill Dix]

Stunning pose, well seen and well captured. Love the low angle and curve of the feathers.

[denise ippolito]

Arno, Scott, Arash and Bill, Thank you all for your kind comments.

[Randy Stout]

Denise:

It has all been said, but the lines of the feathers coupled with the low angle make this very nice.

Cheers
Randy

[Caroline Darmo]

Just fabulous Denise, such an intimate moment captured in beautiful light. Great work!

[denise ippolito]

Randy and Caroline, Thank you both very much for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Denise, low angle, light, pose, the feathers, exposure.....all combine to make a great image. Beautifully done. for this shot, I think a central placement( with head at rule-of-thirds line) might work better but I might be in minority on that one :-)

[denise ippolito]

Kaustubh, Thank you I appreciate your thoughts. I think it could go either way.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Love the light, low angle and exquisite moment. Delicate and breathtaking. I think a more central placement would also be acceptable?

[denise ippolito]

Chris, Thank you very much for your comments.