Taken with my Canon 5D II ⬓ Canon 70-200 @180mm (288mm equivalent), ISO 800 ⬓ f8 ⬓ 1/3200th second.
I shot this White Tern on Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific ⬓ As an aside, as the legend goes, Pitcairn Is. is the final resting place of Fletcher Christian of ⬓Mutiny on the Bounty⬠fame.
We were on a very disappointing National Geographic cruise and spent a day on Pitcairn Island ⬓ and I say disappointing because my wife and I believed the advertising that the 7-day cruise would be filled with exploration, adventure and numerous educational opportunities via lectures and presentations. Well, the presentations consisted of movies including the 1935, 1962, and 1984 movie versions of Mutiny on the Bounty. The cruise, while enjoyable to a degree, was all the things we had heard about cruises that we did not want ⬓ more food than you could eat, cliques of people and the ability to go ashore only between hours of 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, not particularly exciting times for photography.
But as the saying goes, when given a lemon, make lemonade. So instead of shooting landscape sunrises and sunsets, I looked for birds and was fortunate to capture a couple of terns in flight from the deck of ship while waiting for a Zodiac boat to tale us to shore.
The skies in the South Pacific are ever changing that time of year and I was fortunate to capture this shot with a rainbow in the background ⬓ so I should not complain. I belong to several photo clubs but haven’t entered this into competition yet, so I’m giving it a trial run with DD - 07.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 7 comments posted
Hoshedar Cooper
I am sorry that the cruise did not live upto your expectations. But you made lemonade out of lemons served to you. And you even got a rainbow in your image to boot...!!! The image is excellent, very sharp with the catchlight in the white tern's eye clearly visible. Perhaps you can select the subject and add a wee bit of brightness? I would definitely participate with this image in the nature section of salons. Good luck. Posted: 07/15/2024 14:28:02
Tom McCreary
A very sharp image with great depth of field. You captured the bird coming straight toward you with the wings in good positions, and it fills the frame perfectly. The rainbow is also in the perfect place. The bird seems a bit dark, but it was a rainy sky, and the brightest point of the image is the birds face. The eye goes straight to the face. I would not change a thing. Posted: 07/15/2024 20:12:28
Gaetan Manuel
Sharp image.The rainbow adds something special to the photo.You were very fortunate! Posted: 07/16/2024 18:04:25
Barbara Mallon
What a lovely image! The slight tip of the bird creating a sort of diagonal and the rainbow creating an opposing diagonal! The only nit pick is the loss of detail on the white side of the bird's face! You could also brighten the darker parts of the bird. I suspect you can fix that with curves. As a nature or pictorial shot it would really sing! Posted: 07/24/2024 23:19:24
Butch Mazzuca
Thank you for your comments, much appreciated Posted: 07/25/2024 02:09:42
Rich Sears
Excellent capture Butch. Wow factor, technicals including focus are right on, including the catchlight in the eye and the wonderful rainbow positioned where a photographer prays for. Posted: 07/26/2024 21:29:42
Butch Mazzuca
Thank you Rich, yes I was fortunate to capture the image. I have a series of images (I was using Hi-speed auto) but the rainbow was best in this particular shot, which is why I used it here. Posted: 07/26/2024 21:37:31
