Caspian Tern

Gallery: AvianPosted July 29, 2011145 views6 comments

The birds on the Oregon Coast are very courteous. This tern saw me with my camera, flew overhead, allowing me to capture a few shots and then flew off not to be seen again.

Canon 7d
100-400 @ 400 mm
1/1600
f5.6
-2/3 exposure bias
400 ISO

I am new to birding and bird photography so any suggestions to help me become better at my new hobby are greatly appreciated.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 29, 2011 at 12:43 AM

Welcome to NPN Allen. You chose a great hobby and internet site! You have a nice first post here. My first post was some horrible out of focus bird on a stick shot on film. You are already doing birds in flight shots. The black cap on this bird makes it difficult to see the eye, a key element in most bird/wildlife images. If you aren't allready shooting raw files I would recommend it, gives a lot more latitude for adjustments when post processing time comes around. Your camera settings are well thought out and optimized for a great flight photo. Nice work!

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on July 29, 2011 at 9:22 AM

Hi Allen: Welcome to NPN. Thanks for sharing your Tern image. Nice work. You caught a nice wing position, you bird is nice and sharp and your exposure looks pretty good. As mentioned the eye is pretty dark. I know the feeling. My last few posts have been of terns and getting the eye to pop is pretty tough to do. Great start. Looking forward to more of your work and participation on NPN.

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

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on July 29, 2011 at 9:43 AM

Welcome! Nice first post! I agree with the other comments re: the head/eye, but you did a real nice job of freezing the action. Looking forward to more. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on July 30, 2011 at 5:09 PM

Hi Allen,

Welcome to NPN's Avian Critique Gallery, it is a great place to learn. I think you'll learn as much from commenting as you from will the comments you receive.

I like the pose of the tern and the comp you used. As others have mentioned I'd like to see some light in the eye, hard to do with terns sometimes. Even with -2/3 EV compensation some of the whites are hot, you may have needed -1.0. Also, some of the blacks are blocked up, you might reduce the contrast and see if that helps some. Shutter speed froze the action nicely.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on July 30, 2011 at 10:27 PM

Welcome - the whites do appear "hot" and catchlight in the eye is something that I feel is a necessity. Terns are notoriously tough to get good 'eyes'. But, you've captured this Tern in flight before it has flown past you, which is a huge plus, and I like the pose.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on July 31, 2011 at 9:16 PM

Thank you for your kind welcome and comments. I agree about the eye. I tried to work with it, but it looked fake, like a glass eye.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments