This is my first post since a little while back. I've been away from the board to concentrate on the re-designing and functioning of our website. More on this later. In between, there's been a few breaks of good weather for me to go out and get some shots.
In the past, I've photographed jet aircraft flying at the speed of sound a few hundred feet away, Peregrine Falcons (world's fastest bird) doing the steep dive at a distance; but the fastest action so far must be the Terns doing their fishing acts, at times only 20 feet away from my position.
Each breeding season, there are up to five different species of Terns that come to nest at Bolsa Chica Wetlands: Royal Tern, Elegant Tern, Caspian Tern, Forster's Tern, and Least Tern. The following photographs captured some of the behaviors these terns display during their fishing outings.
All taken with either Nikon D300 or D200, with 300mm f/4 or 70-200mm f/2.8, hand held, all natural light, JPEG format.
C & C welcomed. If you find these enjoyable, please make a comment. Say what's on your mind, what's your first impression regarding the photos from a photographer's (aren't we all?) point-of-view. If you're thinking "Nice set!" or "Good shots!", I'd rather take a "Hi, how are you?"
5. They must shake off the droplets after landing in water to achieve sufficient flight, sometimes looking rather ... awkward. http://www.ndshow.com/FTP/tern_5.jpg
8. Hey, I see a fish!! (The photographer was thrilled to have gotten this shot, it's hard enough to capture a fish flipping out of water, it's even harder to capture a tern going after it!) [grinning ear to ear] http://www.ndshow.com/FTP/tern_8.jpg
You can see a Hi-Res (high resolution) version of these images and thousands of others on www.ndshow.com.
Note: These images do NOT benefit from any cloning, adding or removing using software such as Photoshop. What you see is what you get.
Morning Andy! You know I would like to comment on each one for you buddy but I think they would boot me from the forum for taking up too much space
So, in staying with first impressions, the ones that jump out at me are: #1 for the fine comp, color and BG separtion. #5 for the nice soothing BG and the unique pose. #8 for the feel of anticipation. #10 for the formation color and sharpness. #12 for the stacked formation and wing tip to wing tip framing . #14 for the cool shot that it is!
Other comments, #2 is very cool and #7 'golden light' I might be inclined to warm up the image a bit, that is if permissible by your standards
Smokin' good series buddy, that is a culmination of many frames I am sure but the ones you picked are wonderful!
Great series, Andy. Afterall, who doesn't just love the action sequences. I especially love the cropped close ups. If you aren't doing any PP on these images then kudos to you for some great exposure work. Very nicely done.
Thank you noelle.
You know the reference I'm trying to make, right? It's the shot that looks like one of those hair product commercials (Finesse or Revlon??)
After seeing this post I just had to go look at your site! Hats off to yea! Those have to be some of the best bird pictures I have seen hands down! Awesome shots again hate to repeat myself but it is what is Your site made my bookmarks and I will be coming back in the future to see what's new.
