I get a lot of questions about “Left Wing:” Is this a painting or a photograph; how did you create it; why didn’t you do a right wing” what kind of bird is this; etc”. So here’s the story behind this image:

I was out shooting a large flock of Royal and Least Terns on the beach at Coronado early in the morning when the sun was just rising. The flock would swirl over the water in large, clockwise circles, diving at bait fish in the shallows. The male terns would return to the flock on the sand carrying a small fish in their beaks and strut around, showing what a stud they were. The whole sequence was frantic, loud, and entirely entertaining.

As you can imagine, I shot a number of images both on land and in the air. I was shooting with 700mm of glass with a high shutter speed to capture the terns while in flight. They are both small and quick. This image is a tight crop of an entire tern that, itself, filled only about 1/5th of my screen, but the clarity was stunning. The left wing was what presented while the flock flew in clockwise circles; so no, it was not a politically motivated tern!

I uploaded the image in Lightroom and selected the crop I wanted. The sky was white (cloudy morning) so I didn’t have to remove it for the perfect background. The feathers then became my canvas and I pumped up the blue that is a reflection of the water on light grey wings. The tone, which I absolutely love, is actual. I used a soft brush to soften the texture, creating a sort of dreamy feel; almost that of a water color painting. The final step was to upsize the image in Photoshop to lock in exquisite detail even when the image is printed up to 5 or 6’ in height.

I have sold several versions of this print, including framed and unframed prints on metal. The metallic glow really works well with the colors. My favorite print so far has been an order on glass. It is so modern, sleek, and vibrant. Presently, I have this image printed on my phone case (an option available on my website). So that is the origin of “Left Wing.” See it here: [click]