Black Skimmer

good flight shot, Luke. This is a bird that I would love to see. I like the angle of the bird and the way its long wings fill the frame. I'm assuming that you mean f/8, not f/18 (although with that wingspan, maybe not?)

excellent flight shot

Very nice Luke, one of my favorites of yours. That pose is really wonderful, with full wing extension, "top-down" look, and great look at the head and eye. Nicely done!

Luke

You caught this skimmer in a great pose. I like how the oof scenery at the bottom of the frame anchors the image, the great eye contact and the flared out tail.

Very nice air position, and I like the bit of shoreline to give the image a base.

Can I suggest using a different color for your copyright?

Rich,

I've been experimenting with making my copyright match a color featured in my subject - so in this case I did a color grab from the bill.

I've been experimenting with making my copyright match a color featured in my subject - so in this case I did a color grab from the bill.

I do the same in most case, but I find this color difficult to read against the sky color.

Try this: select two colors from the image so they become your foreground and background colors (say the bill color for FG, and the white from the skimmer or dark blue from the distant shore for BG. Set the text tool to the FG color to create your copyright text - it appears on a new top layer. Switch to the brush tool and swap FG and BG colors. Select the bottom layer in the layer stack and click the new layer icon at the bottom. Use the brush to paint on this new layer under the text with an appropriately sized brush with soft edges. Adjust the opacity of the top two layers to taste and then flatten the image. Here's a Redhead on my web site as an example using similar colors to your skimmer.

I loved seeing this one posted large Luke - it made a big difference. The flight posture and eye contact are great. Nice that the skimmer is completely separated from the shoreline too.

I like the banking pose and eye contact Luke. Nice work with exposure.

The larger version does show this off well!

Nice banking turn and spread tail Luke

cheers
Rob

A beautiful looking bird, you've captured it well here, I like your composition, it fills the frame nicely.
Well done.

Geoff.

Great shot Luke! The comp is great and you even caught a catchlight in the eye. This is just a very cool shot I think a lot of folks would love to have in their collection.

Lovely top-side view, Luke. I like the detail too.

This is sweet Luke, nice top side view and great angle

Great all around!