Common Tern: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — There was a large flock of Terns actively feeding at the junction of creek and river behind the beach the other day…mostly Common Terns. A thing of beauty to watch and a challenge to photograph. Such grace. Such power. Such a mastery of the air. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird recognition auto focus. Auto ISO set to faster for higher shutter speeds (1/2000th). Processed in Photomator.

Common Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — there was a flock of Common Terns avidly feeding where the fresh and salt water’s mix in a tidal creek as the tide went out. They were swooping and circling over the water, diving down to hover and then strike. Beauty in motion. Birds totally in their element. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my flight and action modifications. Animal/bird subject recognition and auto focus. Processed in Photomator.

Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — A Great Egret winging its way upriver to the sand bars. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my flight and action modifications. Animal/Bird subject detection auto focus. Processed in Photomator.

Common Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — Common Terns were actively feeding at the river mouth the other day and I had some fun trying to catch them as they dove. I was surprised, when I got home, to see how many I had actually caught. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my flight and action modifications. Tracking auto focus and Bird subject recognition. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — Now this tern means business! He or she has been practicing and got 3 direct hits on me…one on my hat 🙂 and two right in my eyes (or way too close for comfort 🙁 Business all the way. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — I have taken over 20,000 shots of Least Terns in flight (or attempted at any rate) over the past month. I go out for a few hours and come back with 2500 exposures…of which I pick maybe 50 to process, and out of that 50 I might get 5 that somewhat satisfy me…and out of the 5, I might be happy enough with one of them to post. But that is just the way photographing Least Terns in flight goes…at least at my level of skill and with my equipment. In the month I have tried two different cameras and three different lenses. I bought a new camera and a new lens primarily because I was not happy with the results my current setup was producing. But of course the equipment is the least important thing about tern in flight photography. Mostly it is just practice and waiting on grace. Most of the keepers are pure gifts…they just happen if you are out there trying. Anyway. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — Terns will turn, and twist, and swoop…among the most acrobatic of flyers. And they are so fast! Catching them in the air is a challenge but also lots of fun. This was a cloudy day with sea fog still in the air so pretty much a nothing sky, and the terns came out of mist like winged rockets. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator. You can zoom in on that face. I was definitely in this bird’s sights.