Osprey with Fish

Gallery: AvianPosted February 28, 2012560 views22 comments

D300s
600mm no TC
1/1000
F/8
ISO 400
Metering Mode Pattern
Exposure compensation -1.00
Aperture Priority
Distance 50.10 meters
RAW
Wimberly Head on tripod

Another Osprey.

Sorry, but I wanted to share this one. I was about to delete this image because I had clipped the top of the wing and just couldn't figure out a good comp for it. There is a reflection of a sailboat in the top portion of the image that makes using any more canvas along the top pretty difficult and I don't think cloning would work well. I literally have 11 different compositions/crops for this shot and finally settled on this crop and sent it to a friend to ask his opinion about this. He said don't you dare delete this, it's great. So, while I'm not used to posting images where both wings are cut off I thought I would explore by sharing this one with you. It's really growing on me and was just wondering what you all thought. Give me the good and the bad. I can take it. Remember, I was going to delete this so I will not be offended. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on February 28, 2012 at 10:11 AM

three thumbs up!!!!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on February 28, 2012 at 11:28 AM

Hi David. I'm glad you did not delete this. This comp seems to work. I am less bothered by the birds right wing than his left. Maybe a touch more room at the top? I'm guessing you already tried that. I really like the fish position and the angle of the Osprey. A keeper for sure.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on February 28, 2012 at 11:47 AM

Keith,
There's a sail boat all along the top of the image. You can just see the reflection of it in the water and I didn't want to do a bunch of cloning with this. Not that good at it. I do have a comp with a little more room at the top and I didn't care for it as much as this one. I am really restricted by what I can do with this shot because of the clipped wing going out the top of the image and the boat in the water that really messes up the entire top 1/3 of the image. I really appreciate the tips and will continue to play around with this shot to see if I can up with something a little better. Much Thanks Keith.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on February 28, 2012 at 11:49 AM

Dave, Sometimes we get too hung up on a pre-conceived "ideal" shot - perfect pose, clean BG, perfect head-turn, etc. We're too quick to throw out anything less that doesn't meet these supposed requirements.

Try hard to see alternatives, especially when a shot has OTHER strong points.
The other strong points here, that make this an EXCELLENT shot, include - tack-sharp head of both bird and fish, the intent stare, the water drops flying off the fish, and the nice BG.

The whites on the bird's left flank arer a bit hot, but easily corrected.

Definitely a KEEPER!!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on February 28, 2012 at 12:18 PM

Hi David,

I like it. I think this could be even more powerful if the tone across the image were not so flat. I would suggest using NIK Darken/Lighten Center Filter so that the right hand side of the frame is brighter than the left, thus drawing our eye in every way to the area of interest.

It's a keeper.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on February 28, 2012 at 12:24 PM

Wow!! Enough said. That you would even consider deleting this photo because the wings were cropped is tribute to the tendancy toward hypercritical, preconcieved and standardized notions of what makes a good/great photo that seems to prevail on many of the nature photo forums that I frequent. The up close and personal nature of this photo more than compensates for any wing loss. The impact of such a close shot is dynamite. Personally I would rather have this shot any day than a loser composition with "room to fly into". There is certainly nothing at all wrong with leaving room but you don't have to do it on every shot. That's the good. As for the bad maybe work on the hot whites mentioned by Sandy.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on February 28, 2012 at 12:34 PM

I think you chose the best composition/crop from what you had to work with. You did such a good job getting both the osprey's head and the fish head in focus that it's a keeper in my book.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 28, 2012 at 1:10 PM

Sandy has covered my feelings pretty well.

The composition you have selected here puts the viewer's attention on the action and the fish; there's no need to have the complete wings in the frame as this is more about the action than about what an Osprey looks like. There are millions of other photos available that show all of an Osprey's wings. This image would probably be selected by a photo editor over something including the full wings but not showing the action as well.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 28, 2012 at 1:56 PM

Hello David

Without looking at the Other comments yet... Here is my Honest Opinion....

I too prefer the Whole Image within the Frame. I have seen many Images Cropped in Magazines Just-Like-This.

A Very Powerful Image !!!!! As you have presented. I do find Some of the Whites somewhat too bright & lacking detail... If you have the room to Adjust? But I enjoy this Image Very Much.

TFS

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on February 28, 2012 at 3:58 PM

What Richard said, although I would be tempted to take a look at slightly more crop on the left. Wonderful action shot!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on February 28, 2012 at 6:16 PM

Thank you all for the suggestions. I was so into the crop that I forgot about the whites completely. I think I can salvage the highlight areas. I may still try out a couple of different crops on this one but the sail boat reflection in the top portion of the image prevents me from doing very much along the top of the image unless I do some cloning which I'm not very good at. I will try and work on the lighting so it's not so flat looking as well. Great input to things I didn't see. Thanks so much.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by wade pettitt on February 28, 2012 at 7:42 PM

David, I think its a keeper for sure.

Registered on May 6, 2009, 184 Posts, 471 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on February 28, 2012 at 7:52 PM

Outstanding catch, the eye of the Osprey and the eye of the fish both sharp. This crop works very well for me. Love the action.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 28, 2012 at 8:32 PM

An impressive shot David, the great eye contact with both bird and fish make this a winner and I think your crop works well here.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on February 28, 2012 at 10:09 PM

An outstanding action capture David. I like the crop and think Rich critiqued it well, the only thing that I'd address is toning down the highlights a tad. Great shot-glad you didn't can it!

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on February 28, 2012 at 10:14 PM

glad you didn't delete this one, David. it's great action--I love the look of the trout, the water drops, and the angle of the bird and head. for me personally, I feel like the comp as presented is a little too unbalanced. my initial preference would be for more room at the top, but since you've mentioned the undesirable sailboat there, I'd consider taking some off on the left. not a whole lot--I'm estimating maybe cropping in to remove the first full primary feather (and possibly just a bit of the second from the edge of the frame). This would go a long way to evening out the amount of each wing shown, which for me would really help balance the comp. I think that when you have great action like this, you can work around clipped wings, like you say it's just a matter of finding the right comp.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on February 28, 2012 at 10:19 PM

Don't be sorry. This is a way great image, David. The detail in the fish is simply amazing. The talons, the eye. Always strive for the whole bird, but when dealing with birds of this size, sometimes you choose detail instead. Really enjoying this one.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 29, 2012 at 2:50 PM

Very cool shot David and definitely a keeper, when I look at this image my eyes went for the osprey head (yellow eyes) and the fish in the claws. Add to that is the water droplets and the wonderful detail and sharpness in the areas that matter the most. At first I thought more of a vertical crop would work better but this one works just fine, nice job in getting this 'keeper', way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on February 29, 2012 at 11:00 PM

Powerful really like it. Glad you didn't delete.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Walt Sterneman on March 1, 2012 at 9:37 AM

I like this shot David. The wing crop does not bother me as the eyes of the bird and fish and the situation are the primary subject here. Great capture and thanks for showing it.

Registered on March 24, 2010, 73 Posts, 1268 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on March 1, 2012 at 10:54 AM

Now that is getting up close and personal. Cool image.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 1, 2012 at 8:41 PM

It's such a dynamic image that i don't think the cropping affects it all. It even concentrates your attention on the action

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments