![\"forster's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/forsters-tern-4507-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOne day I’d like to see slow-motion video of a hovering tern. In the meantime sequences like this will have to do.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed this Forster’s Tern last May 29th at Bear River MBR as it hovered over a pond while hunting for fish. These are four of eight\u00a0images taken in a burst that lasted .8 of a second and\u00a0presented in the order they were taken.<\/p>\n Hovering terns in bright sunlight are difficult to expose properly because their bright whites with direct sunlight on them tend to blow out easily, especially if the blacks around their eyes are exposed\u00a0well. Because of those blacks it’s\u00a0particularly important to get a catch light to define the black\u00a0eye in this species.\u00a0I did some exposure adjustments during processing in an attempt to mitigate\u00a0the exposure\u00a0problem and once again I had more shutter speed than I really needed.<\/p>\n Terns use their long, narrow wings to hover in the same spot over fish before potentially diving on them and that effort provides the photographer with a variety of graceful poses that often remind me of an avian ballet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Their legs, which match the color of most of their beak,\u00a0often hang down as they hover which I think provides an interesting visual effect in combination with their long, pointed and\u00a0graceful wings and beautiful fanned tail.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I don’t often catch their wings held as vertically as this so I thought it was an interesting flight posture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I don’t remember if this tern dove on a fish or gave up and flew to a different spot but this is the last image of the sequence that I kept.<\/p>\n I’ve yet to photograph hovering terns this spring but I’ve definitely been watching for them. I have opportunities with both\u00a0Forster’s and the much larger\u00a0Caspian Terns and I enjoy photographing both of them as they hover over fish because you never know what convoluted and interesting flight postures you might get.<\/p>\n And the potential for finding a unique or even spectacular flight pose certainly makes the painful process of culling images more interesting.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One day I’d like to see slow-motion video of a hovering tern. In the meantime sequences like this will have to do.<\/p>\n![\"forster's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/forsters-tern-4508-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"forster's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/forsters-tern-4514-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"forster's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/forsters-tern-4515-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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