Tern in flight

[Joel Eade]

Taken on a sand bar at the tip of a small island in Tampa Bay, standing in shallow water/mud with James Shadle. This is an afternoon shot with the sun behind us and the wind coming from the west the setup was perfect for the birds to fly toward us.

EOS 1D MKIII
500mm f/4L IS USM
Tripod + Wimberly II head
1/2000
f/8
ISO 400

ACR and CS5. Removed two oof birds in the right lower corner.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Joel. Your exposure and sharpness are excellent. Wing position is good. The shadow of the near wing is a little strong. I might consider a slight CCW rotation to the image.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Joel - lots to like here - Looking like you had a great time with Capt James :)
Agree with Doug - the shoreline in the BG makes it feel like it needs a little CCW.

Sharpness, exposure etc are all right on the money - Doing really well!!

[Desmond Chan]

I agree with the great comments above ! ;)

[Joel Eade]

Thanks for looking and the comments/suggestions.

I actually did rotate this about 1/2 degree CCW....looks like I needed a little more.

I kept checking the bubble on my tripod but due to the soft mud it was hard to keep it level at all times.

[Doug Brown]

I kept checking the bubble on my tripod but due to the soft mud it was hard to keep it level at all times.

It's not really about keeping the camera level Joel. It's all about the virtual horizon created by the shoreline.

[Julie Kenward]

Lovely image and beautiful exposure. I very much like the placement of the bird in the frame and the soft muted BG really sets off the striking black/white of the bird.