Summary
In a perfect world, the wind would always be blowing directly away from the sun so that the birds are flying right at us. When the sun, however, is more than 90° off the wind direction on a sunny day, bird photography will always be difficult. Learn how artie dealt with such conditions last Wednesday at Nickerson Beach until the bad wind became the perfect wind.
What’s Up?
For a change, conditions were close to perfect for two sessions in a row — there was a brisk north by northwest wind (WNW would have been spot on) on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Nickerson Beach and an absolutely ideal northeast wind the next clear morning. I created nearly 3,000 images during each of those two sessions. Including a few good ones.
Today is Tuesday 9 June 2026. Double check on that. With the forecast calling for sunny skies and a SW wind I am opting to stay in and pack up for my early morning flight to Orlando on Wednesday. With the forecast clear skies and a brisk SSW wind, I will — if I get most everything done, probably head out for a final afternoon session. I hope that you too choose to have fun and enjoy life. Please remember that happiness is a choice — Byron Katie, The Work.Com
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The Photo Mechanic screen capture for the original — Common Tern attacking Black Skimmer |
Too Good to Trash
Clipped wing tip. Crooked horizon line. A good part of the attacking bird is in the shade. Rather harsh light. Cyan sky. Would you try to save this one?
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This image was created on 5 June 2026 by yours truly at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated by the colony ropes on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera in APS-C Crop Mode. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 500: 1/6400 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:15:51pm on a then mostly sunny afternoon. Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #1: Common Tern attacking Black Skimmer |
The Image Optimization
During the raw conversion I used two ACR masks to open up (lighten) the shaded parts of the attacking bird and the belly of the skimmer. Color mixer did well on the sky. After the raw conversion I brought the image into Photoshop, ran Topaz Denoise, and leveled the horizon using Content Aware Crop. Next I want to work adding the clipped wing tip; it took a good deal of time getting that perfect. Last was cleaning up some of the grasses along the bottom frame edge.
One Last Question
Should I have removed the tern in the background?
A Much Easier Fix…
We have seen before that while APS-C crop mode can make your day, it can — on occasion — ruin it. Had I been in full frame mode for this one things would have been a lot easier. On the other hand, APS-C crop mode helped with four of the other images.
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This image was created on 3 May 2026 by yours truly at the Convention Center on South Padre Island, TX. Seated on damp sand at the top of the berm, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera in APS-C crop mode. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 2000: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:38:18pm on a then sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #2: American Oystercatcher foraging in surf |
Finally
On my two previous afternoon Nickerson visits, I had a lovely unbounded oystercatcher feeding in the surf in gorgeous light. But with my surgically repaired right hand still bandaged and the stitches in place, I did not want to risk getting down on the ground and then up again. I was not happy with any of the images. On Wednesday past, however, with my stitches removed and a steri-strip protecting the pretty-much-healed incision, I was able to get down onto the beach right on sun angle. And get up again without a problem.
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This image was created on 5 June 2026 by yours truly at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera in full frame mode. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 1600: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:45:54pm on a then sunny afternoon. Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #3: Common Tern landing near nest with wings raised |
Understanding Bird Behavior
Knowing that when terns land near their nests the will alight with their wings raised enabled me to plan for this image by hitting the Trash Can button to switch from APS-C crop mode to full frame mode.
Check out the bird’s shadow and note that I was working well off sun angle. See the explanation in the text below the next image of the same bird made less than five minutes later.
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This image was created on 5 June 2026 by yours truly at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera in APS-C Crop Mode. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 1250: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:50:48pm on a then partly sunny afternoon. Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #4: Common Tern on scrape nest with two eggs |
Working Off Sun Angle
With the wind 10° west of south and the sun 25°north of west, my primary concern was to parallel the subject. Had I stayed exactly on sun angle the tern would have been angled 15° away from me.
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This image was created on 5 June 2026 by yours truly at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera in APS-C Crop Mode. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 1600: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:59:15pm on a then partly sunny afternoon. Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #5: Black Skimmer in flight — dorsal view |
Flight Photography When the Wind is Less Than Ideal
When the wind is more than 90° off sun angle, the trick to making good flight images is to keep a sharp eye out for subjects that are not flying directly into the wind. I tracked this bird as it took flight to the north and then turned left and dove affording a nice look at both upper wing surfaces.
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This image was created on 5 June 2026 by yours truly at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera in APS-C Crop Mode. The exposure was determined by Zebras with Exposure Compensation (EC) on the thumb wheel. Multi Metering =1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 1600: 1/4000 second at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. AWB at 8:16:31pm moments before sunset. Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #6: Common Tern landing at nest at sunset –SILHOUETTE |
When a Bad Wind is a Good Wind
If a south by slightly west wind is less than ideal for traditional front-lit flight photography, then the converse must be true: it is great for backlit sunset silhouettes. Several terns have laid eggs practically against one of the snow fences, far outside of the colony ropes. On the way back to my vehicle I noticed some of those birds landing against a nice orange sky.
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For those who did not use my link to purchase their Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens, you can order your a copy here for $209.93. Click on the image to enlarge and to be able to read the fine print. |
The BAA Sony 300mm f/2.8 Lens Guide
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From top left around to center clockwise: Roseate Spoonbill — 300/2X/a9 iii; Brand’t Cormorant — 300/a-1 ii; Buff-bellied Hummingbird — 300/2X/a-1 ii; Summer Tanager — 300/2X/a-1 ii; American Oystercatcher — 300/2X/a-1; Black and White Warbler — 300/1.4X/a-1 ii; Laughing Gull — 300/1.4X/a-1 ii; Wood Thrush — 300/2X/a-1 ii; Common Tern — 300/2X/a-1 ii. |
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If you did not, you can purchase a copy here for $209.93. Yes, it never hurts to use my links and it never costs you one penny more. And if you contact me via e-mail before you make a major purchase, I can often save you some money.
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From top left around to center clockwise: Sandhill Crane — 300/2X/a-1; Crested Caracara– 300/1.4X/a-1 ii; Magnolia Warbler — 300/1.4X/a-1 ii; Bald Eagle — 300/a-1 ii; Common Tern — 300/2X/a-1 ii; Bald Eagle — 300/a-1 ii; Bald Eagle screaming — 300/a-1; Brandt’s Cormorant — 300/1.4X/a-1 ii; Sabine’s Gull juvenile — 300/1.4X/a-1. |
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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