nikon d300, 300 f/2.8, manual exposure, 1/2000 sec at f/5.6, 0ev
cropped with clarity and vibrance added in LR, background noise reduction in CS5 with nik, selective unsharp mask.
thought about cloning out the dark spots in the water, but to me it looks like he is looking at them as he dives.
Nice shot Pat. The terns have been a goal of mine to get a good one just as they start to enter the water. I did get one in the position that I wanted but he was facing the wrong direction. The dark spots look ok to me.
Awesome image and one of those rare times when you get away with showing no eye whatsoever and I still say "YES!"
I checked your whites and they are right where they should be - outstanding exposure / processing on them! That black on top of his head and the red of the bill balance his head out nicely and I agree that the dark spots in the water give our imaginations something to think about...I'd leave them in as well.
Beautiful lighting - although I suspect it might have been tough getting those whites just right! Choice of shutter speed is right on as well.
I love shooting these guys, but can't say I've had a lot of success. Hard to get sharp and with a nice bg, as you have done here. Terrific acrobatic pose, and a great 'fun' shot, as you say. Of course if he had turned back to look at you........:o
hey guys - thanks for the positive input - I was kind of torn. I really like the light and the colors, and the pose makes me smile, but part of me is like Bill D. said, not sure it was a keeper because he didn't look back at me. But as my husband told me - it tells a story this way. I was thinking about what Julie said about giving us something for our imagination to work on. Was thinking - when the bird looks back at us, there is a "him" and a "me" involved looking at each other - while in this case, we can be the bird, diving in the water....
or something like that....
so maybe once in a rare while its ok ...
Bill M, there were a couple of different poses I was trying to catch with the terns, and I didn't really get any of them --- so have lots of incentive to try again. I love the "angel wing" thing they do when they are hovering about to dive, and the spread tail and wings thing, and the recurved wing tips that I got once.... and that violent head shake they do after they leave the water.... Terns are awesome to watch flying....
I like it! Nice shot, and interesting and unique. The title helps to pull it all together too. One of the presenters at the expo west, Ron Magill said - don't forget to have fun, and if YOU like the shot, that's the most important thing.
Pat, ordinarily, most of us prefer to avoid the shot of "the north end of the southbound bird", but here you have just such a shot that works. You caught this one in the last rolling, twisting adjustment of its dive on the prey that is so characteristic of terns; it's those aerobatic maneuvers that make them so much fun (and so much of a challenge) to photograph. Sometimes, it's capturing the essence of the creature, rather than the "perfect pose", that makes a shot fun; I think this is one of those.
summer dive - another for fun
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