Up close and Personal

[Grace Scalzo]

Seeking your reaction to this image. The least terns were for the most part quite far from me last pm and I was photographing them with my 2x tele. All of a sudden, a female landed in front of me, and I got some nice full frame images of her. Then in comes a male with a fish, and with no time to take off the tele, I captured some frames in camera and then composed in LR by trimming from the top. What do you think? I'm too close to this image to be able to evaluate it.

Thanks!

1/1600, f10, iso800
Canon 1dmk4, 500 f4 + 2x tele + lowered tripod

[Karl Egressy]

In a perfect world you would have them both sharp. With 1000 mm close range, it would have been impossible.
I like the interaction, low angle and having eye contact with both.
Great picture, Grace.

[laurie golden]

I like it. Being this close lets us see the detail of the interaction. Very sharp on both birds and fish and nice low angle. I might crop off the right to the end of the male's tail feathers.

[Randy Stout]

Grace:

I think it is an effective image, despite the DOF issue with the back bird. As Karl pointed out, an impossible situation with this setup close in, to get enough DOF to get everything in sharp focus.

If I have time, I will often try picking a focus point midway between the two birds, to try and get acceptable sharpness on both, but not easy with a momentary situation like this.

I am fine with the crop.

Cheers

Randy

[Arno Ellmer]

A beautiful moment in nature captured here,Grace.The crop works for me and DOF already commented on.

[Joe Senzatimore]

While I wish for the full wing , I do like this alot. It's great inter-action/behavior. Wonderful low angle and fantastic light.

[Rachel Hollander]

Grace - Dof aside, I think it works very well and depicts a nice moment between the 2. Gorgeous light, creamy bg and the comp works.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marina Scarr]

This is an awesome capture, Grace. Both birds are sharp where they need to be...the eyes! Because of this, I feel as though everything falls into place and I am not at all distracted by those parts which are not tack sharp. I think the comp works well, although I might consider just a tad more on the left if you have it.

[Bill Dix]

Good reaction to a fast-developing situation. Lovely capture, and the comp works fine for me. Sure, having both birds sharp would be nice in a perfect world, which it ain't. I like it.

[dankearl]

I would certainly keep it. It is a nice scene with the prey.
There are times when two cameras would be nice to have, no time to remove the 2x for a 1.4?

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I had the same problem shooting these guys with cutting off the wings. I feel sharp where it needs to be and really like the shot as it is nice and close and intimate.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This is an awesome capture, Grace. Both birds are sharp where they need to be...the eyes! Because of this, I feel as though everything falls into place and I am not at all distracted by those parts which are not tack sharp. I think the comp works well, although I might consider just a tad more on the left if you have it.

My thoughts exactly! With both individuals' eyes sharp the image works very well and the dof is a non issue for me. Very intimate view of the behaviour. I love it!

[gail bisson]

Hi grace,
I can see why this is close to your heart.
I don't mind the ever so slightly OOF body of the male because the eyes are sharp.
I love the pose of the lower tern and the light and the BG with its subtle transition from tan to grey.
As always, your comp is excellent.

[Matthew Studebaker]

Amazing Grace. Love that shooting angle, the light, interaction, detail, all amazing. What a shot.

[Grace Scalzo]

Thank you all so much, I really appreciate you taking the time to think about this one.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Grace, super perspective here, and I really like the overall exposure you have achieved. Yes to both being sharp where it counts, the catch adds interest, and Im fine with the back wings falling out of the DOF. Sometimes nature catches unaware, and we have to make the most of what we get.

[Sachin Saraf]

Beautiful capture Grace, I keep coming back to this image...I really liked it.

[Grace Scalzo]

Thank you Sachin and Stuart. Appreciate your comments, as always.