Inca Tern w/repost

Gallery: AvianPosted March 31, 2012203 views16 comments

Apparently this is considered by many to be the "world's most beautiful tern species." On the first day of my Peru trip, I traveled south of Lima to visit a colony, stationed on a promontory out near the beach. It was a bit hazardous, perched on the edge of the cliff shooting down at them, but that afforded some nice close viewing opportunities. The terns would often take off en masse and circle out to the ocean and back, but man, they are tough to photograph in flight with a big lens.

This is a basic portrait, but it offers a nice view of their unique colors and plumage.

Canon 7D
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 200
1/1000th
f/8
-1/3 exp. comp.

Max

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 31, 2012 at 2:47 PM

Great job on what looks to be a difficult exposure, Max. Wonderful colors.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on March 31, 2012 at 3:42 PM

Nice work handling all of the blacks here. No nits whatsoever!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on March 31, 2012 at 4:16 PM

I'd never heard of this species before but wow is it a stunner. Good pose and comp that gives the viewer a nice look at this species. My only nit is that on my monitor there is a halo pretty much all around the bird. Oversharpening? Thanks for posting.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 31, 2012 at 4:39 PM

Yikes! Peter, I didn't even notice that during processing (messing around with the CS6 beta for the first time), but I can even see the halo on my cell phone. I'll rework it when I get home. The image is pretty sharp so there's no excuse for a halo.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 31, 2012 at 5:55 PM

Beautiful tern. The background works really well with the black bird. Nice work on the exposure. Nits noted on the halo. Nice image.

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 31, 2012 at 6:24 PM

Okay, hopefully this looks a bit better. I normally do a Sharpen pass at a larger size followed by a Smart Sharpen pass at the final size, but in this case I skipped the first step since it was overdoing it a bit with this image.

I should note that I can see a very slight halo with no sharpening... so I don't think I'll win on this one.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on March 31, 2012 at 7:45 PM

It certainly is the most beautiful Tern in my books - would love to see one some day! Excellent photo! I do see that sort of halo in some of my RAW images as well, especially those with a BG such as you have here.

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

Comment posted by Richard Teller on March 31, 2012 at 11:30 PM

Nice image of a beautiful bird. It is sharp and the color is handled very well. It sounds like a great trip.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on April 1, 2012 at 3:40 AM

Lovely bird well captured.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 1, 2012 at 4:46 AM

Sweet portrait of this cool looking tern Max, excellent exposure work.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 1, 2012 at 8:52 AM

Beautiful exposure and detail, Max.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on April 1, 2012 at 9:55 AM

Beautiful bird, well captured. I love the colors, nice surf in the background.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on April 1, 2012 at 12:47 PM

Love the repost Max. Thanks so much for capturing this tern so well and posting it. I too agree that is the most beautiful tern.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on April 1, 2012 at 3:58 PM

Gorgeous bird beautifully photographed.
May

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

Comment posted by Neal Cooper on April 2, 2012 at 2:27 PM

Max. This is indeed a beautiful bird which you captured very well. Nice exposure and good colors.

Registered on June 3, 2009, 144 Posts, 306 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 2, 2012 at 8:16 PM

This is one beautiful tern, Max, and you have captured it well. That background and the rocks for a perch work really well.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments