Portraits of a Whiskered Tern

Wild bird imaging, like all genres of photography, is all about the quality of light.

 

When light is good, even the most common bird species can be portrayed in a pleasing manner, like this ordinary migratory bird.

 

I was waiting for birds in flight at the vast fishponds of Sto. Tomas (La Union) when this individual perched on a stake in the middle of one of the ponds.  The 3 pm sunlight had started to turn golden and its intensity became mellower. The background is out-of-focus pond water. I waited with my hand held rig for the bird to strike interesting poses before firing short bursts. Here's a couple of images from that brief portrait session.

 

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Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus, migrant, non-breeding plumage)

Habitat - Bays, tidal flats to ricefields. 

 

 

Shooting Info - Sto. Tomas, La Union, Philippines, December 6, 2015, EOS 7D MII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III,
560 mm, f/7.1, 1/1600 sec, ISO 200, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 800 x 533.

High res 1500 x 1000 version

Shooting Info - Sto. Tomas, La Union, Philippines, December 6, 2015, EOS 7D MII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III,
560 mm, f/7.1, 1/1600 sec, ISO 200, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 800 x 533.

 High res 1575 x 1050 version