Forster's Tern

Gallery: AvianPosted October 3, 2009166 views19 comments

Sterna forsteri

Image was taken August 24, 2008, 8:30 am at a county park near where I used to live in FL.

I was slowly making my way closer to the resting tern by low crawling on my belly and every few feet would stop and take a few images. I had the tern in my viewfinder when I saw another tern low flying into the frame and snapped this image.

D200, HH, laying in the sand, f7.1, 1/750, ISO 160, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light. 50% of the original image, cropped to remove some very OOF sand at the bottom of the frame and for composition.

As always; I sincerely appreciate your comments & critiques. Thank you for looking.

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on October 3, 2009 at 11:21 AM

I like this a lot - great detail and colors and the large OOF wings looming in the BG make this a unique shot

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on October 3, 2009 at 12:09 PM

Very interesting juxtaposition of the "apparently" smaller bird up close and the larger bird in the back. Creates a nice tension.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on October 3, 2009 at 1:01 PM

Interesting and unusual composition that works for me. Excellent technicals, as expected.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Karon Welter on October 3, 2009 at 1:38 PM

Very interesting shot! I really like the OOF bird flying in the background. Gives an unusual perspective. Your patience and willingness to do whatever is needed to get the shot certainly pays off! Great work!

Registered on November 10, 2008, 67 Posts, 543 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on October 3, 2009 at 2:07 PM

Here you go again. Such a wonderful and unique comp. Just super. The OOF bird makes the image for me. Great details and exposure on the resting bird.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on October 3, 2009 at 4:31 PM

really nice composition--I like the way you cropped it a lot. nice job on the exposure as well.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on October 3, 2009 at 5:37 PM

A fine composition and I like the oof Gull in the back

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on October 3, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Interesting image, Lia. Great light and techs as usual. I like how you have placed the foreground tern in the frame.

I am not sure what to make of the oof gull. One one hand, it is also very well composed - it spans the image and does not obstruct with the main subject. Its pose complements the sitting tern very nicely and adds a sense of activity at this location. For some reason I thin it would add more impact to the image if it were also in focus, but not sure if that would have required too high a shutter speed.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on October 3, 2009 at 7:32 PM

A highly three-dimensional image; the OOF tern in the BG really adds to the layering. Perfect techs, nice timing.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on October 3, 2009 at 8:25 PM

Crawling on your belly in the sand for a great shot? My kinda girl haaa... Well worth the sandy belly Lia. Love it

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 3, 2009 at 9:48 PM

I like the concept, bird at rest juxtaposed to bird in glide mode, makes the eye dart back and forth. The simple color scheme is elegant; I always think that your seaside avian shots look like they belong printed and framed large on the wall of a trendy Starbucks.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on October 3, 2009 at 11:12 PM

I love this one. Your images are always great but this one is very different and one of my favorites so far. Great light and details as you always capture.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 3, 2009 at 11:30 PM

A really neat shot Lia and a great capture with the low angle on the sitting bird and the other in flight. For some reason my eye wants to see more space around the edges of this shot.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Terry Sohl on October 4, 2009 at 1:02 AM

Very cool Lia!! I sense a theme with this, and with the meadowlark shot you posted! I thought the meadowlark was an effective shot, but I really like this one. Very interesting and unique composition.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 513 Posts, 6889 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on October 4, 2009 at 8:38 AM

This works very well for me Lia. I like the contrast in "OOF'ness", pose and position in the frame of the two terns. If the two birds were obviously of different species then I don't think it would be nearly as effective for me. I also really like your willingness to experiment and risk in your posts. I've got to start doing that more often - typically, I chicken out.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Bryant on October 4, 2009 at 11:28 AM

Cracking image.

Love everything about this image

Registered on March 31, 2006, 473 Posts, 1081 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on October 4, 2009 at 5:50 PM

Wonderful Lia - the flying tern really adds to it and, as always, your composition and low perspective are perfect

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Mason on October 5, 2009 at 1:46 PM

This one certainly made me think! It's intriguing because the foreground bird seems relaxed and unaware of the approaching bird, which seems to be looking directly at it. Could it end in a territorial dispute or a mating attempt? Fascinating!

Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on October 5, 2009 at 3:00 PM

Wonderful image. Love the out-of-focus bird approaching from the background.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments