Kathy Buckard
August 2026 - INCA TERN
About the Image(s)
Recently took a trip to Jacksonville Zoo in Florida . They have two different bird aviaries. Found this unique bird. It was very hard to photograph as he didn’t want to stay still for very long. Wanted the background to be out of focus as there were many distractions. Did get other shots of him taking a bath but wanted to show the group all of his unique features. Darken the background and cropped original image down.
Nikon D500, ISO-500 1/160 F4.5 Focal Length 232 - Lens Nikkor 70-300.
4 comments posted
Hi Kathy,
I think the subject is well exposed, and the background blur does a good job of isolating the bird. I'm not sure what you are allowed to do with the background in Nature, but in General, I would consider working on it a little more.
There appears to be another blurry tree branch running left from below his beak to the edge of the frame, where it also expands vertically. I tried using the Remove Tool in Photoshop and then brought the image back into Lightroom, where I added masks to the background, eye, and perch limb.
It is a good-looking bird and, in my opinion, worth the extra work to smooth and simplify the background. Posted: 08/14/2026 22:43:49
I think the subject is well exposed, and the background blur does a good job of isolating the bird. I'm not sure what you are allowed to do with the background in Nature, but in General, I would consider working on it a little more.
There appears to be another blurry tree branch running left from below his beak to the edge of the frame, where it also expands vertically. I tried using the Remove Tool in Photoshop and then brought the image back into Lightroom, where I added masks to the background, eye, and perch limb.
It is a good-looking bird and, in my opinion, worth the extra work to smooth and simplify the background. Posted: 08/14/2026 22:43:49
Hi Kathy, very nice image, it looks as though it was taken in the wild. I like Bob's changes but I also think that you could have darkened the branch more, that change would probably be allowed in nature. I like how your image is so nice and sharp and his eye looks great. Posted: 08/20/2026 16:27:37
Thank you. Lou - will take your advice and darken the background more. We belong to a camera club that has competitions five times a year. Will enter under the nature category. Posted: 08/21/2026 22:53:31
My club does not allow cloning but cropping and darkening are okay. I think the restrictions are good as some people really get carried away with cloning, etc. Posted: 08/24/2026 21:59:17