Sandwich Tern

My grandson, Bill, and I went to the beach today at Ft Desoto in Tierra Verde. I hadn't intended on taking any photographs; just enjoying the water for a change.

The water was a warm 79 Deg. F; still a bit cool for me. I like it best when it's about 85 Deg. I did enjoy it even though it felt a bit cool. I haven't managed to find the time to go to the beach since I moved back to Florida 3 years ago.

I brought my camera and was glad I did. After about a 1/2 hour in the water, I became bored and thought I might as well photograph some birds while I was there. The area I usually go to at Ft Desoto is partially cordoned off because the birds are nesting this time of year. Amongst the Black Skimmers nesting on the beach, were a few of these cute little Sandwich Terns. It's so much fun to watch them diving in the water for fish. I shot this one just before his dive. They're way to fast for me to catch during a dive unless I can get very close. Since this area is roped off, I couldn't get too close, so I had to photograph them up in the sky.

Sandwich Terns aren't very big when compared to the other birds or even when compared to Gulls. I only had my 55 - 250mm lens with me, so it was pretty difficult catching them at all.

Since the sun was pretty bright and this white bird was backlit, I opened up my exposure by 1 stop. I couldn't see the histogram on my camera (I need to get one of those hoods); I had to guess that the exposure was fairly close. I probably could've opened up by another 1/2 stop to get more detail in the shadows. Anyway, it isn't too bad like it is. Thank Heaven I shoot RAW. Shooting RAW has saved my butt many times when I don't get the exposure right on. It's especially important when shooting fast moving objects and there isn't enough time to be checking exposure and adjusting it.