Tern Ballet Position

Gallery: AvianPosted August 4, 2014134 views6 comments

On 22June2009, this Common Tern was performing atop a huge granite boulder rising above the shallows of Mooselauk Lake in northern Maine, USA. It was nesting nearby in a small shallow depression in the same boulder. I took this photo in sitting position in a canoe, with camera on tripod with legs in shortened position, so the rangefinder was at eye level. I must use a tripod and "cable release" because of a tremor in my hands. I have often photographed wildlife from a canoe. With rope, I secure the camera/tripod rig to the gunnels and a thwart to prevent it from flipping out of the canoe when I shift my position. I do this as sole paddler, or with a second paddler.
Canon EOS 40D
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
1/500 sec; f/5.6; ISO 400
Aperture priority; spot metering

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on August 4, 2014 at 5:54 PM

Hi Ron,

An interesting, yet challenging capture from a canoe

. You did not state whether you did any processing to the image. The larger version has some noise in the background which can be reduced and you may want to play around with the whites so that you could pull some detail from highlight areas of the tern. Some selective sharpening will help the image and bring out some of those subtle details in the tern's feathers too. I like the reds which pop from the green background and the overall exposure is good. The grays in the wing are delicate and show up well from the background. Thank you for posting................................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 4, 2014 at 9:16 PM

Hi Ron. I like the pose and the comp you went with on this image. I do have a few nits on this one. The large version is showing some noise and would bring it through a round of NR. I also might selectively de-saturate the oranges...they come across quite bright and the whites seem to be clipped in some areas. To me, it looks like you already brought some of the brightness down a bit on the whites since I am seeing some gray mixed in...but since some areas are clipped, detail is lost and no way to brig it back since detail wasn't there to start with.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on August 4, 2014 at 10:07 PM

I like the pose you've captured along with the comp Ron. I echo the comments noted above and I think another round of sharpening would bring a tad more detail to the image.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on August 5, 2014 at 2:33 AM

Hi Ron! The pose is just fantastic and I love your decisions on comp. The tern stands out wonderfully from that smooth and rich background, and his colours just POP. I wish you had a more noise-free file, and there are some interesting horizontal lines in the greens that detract from the overall IQ, but you still can't deny this is just a great capture.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Mohammad Hosseini on August 5, 2014 at 10:37 AM

Nice pose, very unique.
I do agree with others in IQ.

Registered on May 16, 2011, 15 Posts, 301 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 6, 2014 at 11:36 AM

Great pose, Ronald. The whites look just a bit hot. If you were shooting RAW back then, you might want to give a try at reprocessing this to bring out a little detail in them.

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