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<\/p>\nOne of these shots immediately became one of my favorite bird photos and we can’t even see the bird’s head.<\/p>\n
Readers already know that three days ago at Bear River MBR I spent much of my time attempting to photograph Forster’s Terns in flight and diving on prey. The “in flight” part was difficult enough but catching one in a dive was over the top hard. And it was just as hard to catch them coming out of the water after a dive. It all happens too fast.<\/p>\n
I presumed that if I got lucky and got one hitting the water (or just about to), I’d like it better than any photos I might get of one coming out of the water. I was wrong.<\/p>\n
I’m only including the first three photos in the following series as a prelude to the fourth photo, the one I like so much.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Like in my last tern post, this bird was flying away from me as ‘he’ was fishing so I was following him with my lens but not taking photos. But when I saw him twirl in the air as a prelude to diving I began to fire off a burst and hoped that I could keep him in frame and in focus as he was diving toward the water.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I succeeded, at first.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But as usual, his dive was faster than I could follow him with my lens so in this third shot he’s already at the bottom of the frame with several flight feathers clipped. The next five photos in the burst (which took significantly less than half a second to take), when the bird hit the water, while he was in the water and initially coming out of the water, were either “air shots” with no bird in the frame or the bird was cut off or soft. Or both.<\/p>\n But I got one shot, toward the end of him leaving the water, that immediately became a favorite of mine. Even though almost all if his head is hidden.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This is it.<\/p>\n I’ve spent more time looking at, studying and appreciating this photo than I have any other photo of mine in a very long time. I hope at least some of the reasons are obvious but they include his flight posture so close to and parallel to the water, his reddish-orange feet that have just kicked up a water splash and the bent forks of his tail that meet their own reflections. And most of that is doubled in his overall reflection, which I adore.<\/p>\n As always with photographs and any kind of art, what appeals strongly to some viewers may do very little or nothing for others. So even though this photo really floats my boat, it may send yours to Davy Jones’ Locker (after all, there’s that missing head).<\/p>\n That’s just the way of things and I’m fine with it. I like what I like and so does everyone else.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of these shots immediately became one of my favorite bird photos and we can’t even see the bird’s head. (4 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/forsters-tern-8497-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"forsters-tern-8497-ron-dudley\\"")
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