This was taken in February this year from a ship when not far off the Venezuelan coast. It is rarely seen from land and lives in the southern Caribbean, Pacific near Peru and Mexico. I’ve chosen this for this month for interest and its lovely lines - despite the fact that I had over-exposed it.
This is an adult: the young have a yellow beak and no tail (which actually splits into two as they turn). The bird was a long way away - very obvious from the Raw image here! Settings: 700mm (with my Olympus camera, so FF 1,400) at 1/1,600mm, f 8:00 ISO 1,250. For images that require major cropping, I use Topaz to multiply the pixels x2 or 4, then develop in Lightroom. I worked on making the over-exposed area on the wings less troublesome. I will be in this area again in March next year, so hope to take more pictures.
3 comments posted
Cindy Marple
Hi Adrian, Yes the lines on Tropicbirds are wonderful with that long streamer-tail floating behind. The crop emphasizes those lines perfectly. Given the distance, you did a nice job with the processing on this one. We also see these on pelagic trips out of southern California, maybe about as far north as they go. And they rarely seem to get close to the boat.
My technique for exposure with white birds in bright sun is to use fully manual exposure including fixed ISO- dial in the exposure on some test images and then leave it alone. Sometimes then if the next bird isn't white it's a bit under exposed, but that's easier to fix.
I like what you did with the water color. Perfect for a tropical sea. Posted: 12/13/2025 22:28:31
Adrian Binney
Thank you Cindy and I fully agree with technique aspects. Here, I admit that I was excited to have the opportunity to capture this chap (all-be-it at a large distance) that I had seconded to react and take. I never got a better chance that time. Posted: 12/14/2025 18:38:50
Jerry Biddlecom
I agree with Cindy's comments, with the only exception being that I try to avoid shots where the sun angle leaves the bird in shadow. In fact, if I see where the subject is not being illuminated by the sun (unless there is considerable overcast) I won't even bother with taking a shot. Of course, this is my personal approach; I just see shadows as taking away detail. Still, a nice capture of an elegant bird. Posted: 12/14/2025 17:42:27
